Not Everything Changes
by That Was A Helluva Thing
Summary: Logan Mitchell doesn't mind change. Kendall Knight hates change. But when Logan moves and comes into Kendall's life, Kendall's not sure if it's a good change, or a bad one. Eventual Kogan, rated for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Logan Mitchell was surprisingly okay with change. Other people complained about how things changed, whether it was for the better or worse. Logan didn't have that problem. Change was just… change. It had to happen sometime. It could be great, like getting into the college of your dreams, or getting married, or having a child. Or it could suck, like getting fired, or having someone you love die, or breaking up with somebody. Either way, you couldn't stop it, which Logan knew all too well, so he took what came. Even now, after so much had changed in the past few months, he knew change was necessary and couldn't be helped, so he dealt with it.

Logan was currently standing in his new bedroom, which was about twice the size of his old room, but that was a nice kind of change. Except for the fact that even with a queen-sized bed, double closet, four bookshelves, a dresser, a desk with a computer and printer, and a door to a private bathroom, the room still felt a little too spacious. But that tends to happen when you move from a normal-sized four bedroom house to what is virtually a mansion. It did have a five car garage, a pool, and a housekeeper, after all. But that was his Aunt Brooke's taste, and she definitely had the money for it (she was known as the "Estee Lauder" of the Midwest).

While Logan attempted to fix his hair in his bathroom, he heard a knock on the door. "Just a second!" he shouted, but it was too late- his cousin, James Diamond, had already barged in.

"How long are you gonna take to get ready, Logan?" James complained. Logan raised his eyebrows.

"Are you kidding me? It takes you like an hour and a half to get ready every day."

James snorted. "Whatever. I refuse to be late on the first day of my senior year. I haven't seen anyone in, like, two weeks."

Logan rolled his eyes as he grabbed his bookbag off his bed and left the room, James following him. "Cause that's SUCH a long time. I'm so, so sorry. But I haven't seen anyone in about two months." Logan saw James' gaze soften in the corner of his eye, but chose to ignore it. He didn't need anyone's pity. It was his choice to move to Minnesota from his hometown Dallas, after all. "Why do you want to get to school so bad, anyway? I thought that _I _was supposed to be the nerd."

"Yeah. A badass nerd." When they had been little, James and some of their other cousins used to make fun of Logan for being so absorbed in school, but since Logan had gotten to middle school everything had changed. Sure, he still loved to learn, and wanted to be a doctor- somewhat- but he had also learned to let loose a little bit, which apparently impressed James. Logan blamed the fact that James grow up in a fairly small town, but tried not to bring it up now that he was living in Shakopee too.

Logan went down the stairs two at a time and went into the kitchen (the smaller one, used for snacks and shit, as opposed to the large one used to cooking for big dinner parties). Kelly Wainwright, the Diamonds' housekeeper/cook/sort-of-nanny, was in it, making pancakes. "Hey boys," she greeted.

"Hey Kelly."

"You don't have to make breakfast for us, you know," James said, sitting at the counter. He turned to Logan. "She's only doing this because you're here. She's always talking about not spoiling me and shit."

"Language, James," snapped Kelly, turning around and smacking him on the head with a spatula. She was pretty young, in her late twenty's, and acted almost like a big sister to James. Since Brooke was pretty busy, she hired Kelly to watch over him and basically live with them.

"My hair!" James shrieked. Logan laughed.

"I just want your first day of school to be a good one, Logan," she explained to him, turning around to finish the pancakes.

"It'll be fine."

"James, I want you to make sure Logan doesn't get lost. You have to show him around." Logan and James both rolled their eyes when she couldn't see them. "Oh, and I want you to let Logan drive you both to school today."

"WHAT?" shouted James while Logan did a victory dance "But it's my car!"

Kelly shrugged, turning around to serve them. "He's a better driver than you, and more responsible. It's only until your mom buys him a new car."

Logan looked exasperated. "B-but I don't need a new car!"

"Like hell, you don't. I don't want you driving my car all year," grumbled James.

Logan shook his head. "She shouldn't-"

Kelly cut him off. "Shush. She wants to. You'll need one eventually anyway. And it's not like this family can't afford it."

Logan didn't say anything. He knew it was no use. Between Brooke, who you didn't say no to, and Kelly, who could be fucking scary sometimes, there was no arguing.

When they pulled up to the school, James was silent as Logan cut the engine. He had attempted to take the keys from Logan when they had gotten the BMW, but got a threatening look from Kelly and conceded.

Logan looked at James, slightly concerned with his sudden silence. Usually they got along pretty well, and on the way to school they had talked and sang along to the radio.

"So…" Logan decided to continue when James didn't say anything. "You don't have to show me around, if you don't want to. And you don't have to, like, hang around with me or anything. I'll be fine, and I'm sure your friends and me won't-" he stopped when James looked at him.

"That's not it. I'll show you around, and stuff. It's just…when they find out, most people will be pretty cool. But there are some jackasses, and like religious freaks. So…just warning you."

Logan sighed. "It's fine. I'm used to it, by now. Don't worry, okay? Unless the hockey team will freak when I try to join it."

James looked thoughtful. "There might be a few people… But don't worry, me, Carlos and Kendall will stick up for you."

"Ah, the famous Carlos and Kendall. It's weird to think we've never met." Logan got out of the car and started towards the building, which was already swarming with kids.

"Yeah, I know. But Texas is pretty far away…" James followed him before immediately getting distracted by people saying hi to him.

"Hey James, where were you at Mercedes' party?" one guy called.

"Hey, Guitar Dude. I was in Paris, actually…" Logan could feel people looking at him while he listened to James talk. He didn't exactly like being the center of attention, but unfortunately, he was sort of used to it by now.

"C'mon, I'll take you to the office." James tugged on Logan's arm, pulling him towards the building.

Kendall Knight was glad that he only lived a few blocks away from the school. It sucked being picked up by your mom, and he was pretty sure it would suck more if he had to walk like a mile. But, every day, he only had to walk for about five minutes before he was on the front lawn, and his baby sister Katie only had to walk for ten before she was at the middle school, where she was now a seventh grade.

"Sup, Knight!" he heard somebody shout as he made his way up the stone steps. He waved back at Mike, one of the guys from the hockey team, which he was currently captain of. He didn't really consider himself popular- not like Mercedes or Dak or the Jennifers- but he and his friends were fairly well known in their school. It wasn't tiny, but it wasn't huge, either.

Kendall moved through the crowd, saying hi to people he hadn't seen in a while, which wasn't really that many. Kendall and his mom and sister hadn't really gone anywhere over the summer, except for a couple trips to the nearby lake. The only people that he hadn't seen in a long time were his best friends, Carlos and James. Carlos had spent nearly a month in Mexico, like he did every summer, and James had been in Paris for the past two weeks. And before that….Kendall didn't really know. James had said he was in Texas, seeing family, but Kendall thought that was weird because Brooke, James' mom, didn't really get along too well with her family, besides James' uncle Clyde.

"Kendall!" Kendall heard a shout and was immediately tackled as soon as he turned around.

"Hey Carlos," he laughed. He looked around Carlos' giant helmet and saw Stephanie and Jo approaching, smiling at him. "Hey ladies. What's new?"

"We've found this year's conquest!" sang out Jo, nudging Stephanie with her arm. Stephanie rolled her eyes. It was more like this year's conquest for Jo; after all, Steph had the most obvious crush in the world on Carlos and had for years. The only person who was not aware of this was Carlos.

"Oh yeah? Who?" Kendall honestly wasn't that interested in his ex-girlfriend's latest crush. They had dated for the better part of last year, but mutually decided to end it after a good eight months. Neither of their hearts were really in it anymore. And though Kendall would never ever in a million years admit it to anyone, there was another reason behind it, too. But it didn't matter anymore. He and Jo were just friends.

"Hot new guy." Jo waved a hand dramatically in the direction of the crowded hallway. "I don't know his name, but damn, that boy is fine. Even the Jennifers are taking notice." Kendall raised an eyebrow at that. The Jennifers were the biggest ice queens in the school, perhaps Minnesota, and they never noticed a guy if he didn't get down on his knees before them and beg.

"Hold on for a second, chica," said Lucy, sliding her way into their conversation with a smirk. "He may be cute, but are you sure he's to your tastes?"

"What's that supposed to mean?

"I mean, if you haven't seen him, you should know he sort of gives off that bad boy vibe. Not exactly your style." Lucy gestured towards Kendall.

"Hey! I could be a bad boy if I wanted to."

"Sure, Kendall." Kendall stuck his tongue out at Carlos.

"I can deal with a bad boy, Luce. I'll knock the bitches out of the way if I have to." Jo looked around, as if hoping to find the guy. "Now all I need is an introduction…"

"Uh, that might not be a problem." Stephanie pointed across the hall, where James was standing with a kid that Kendall had never seen before.

The guy was a little bit on the shorter side, but well built, with pale skin and short, raven hair that stuck up slightly, but almost artfully. He was wearing a pair of Ray Bans and a simple outfit that read, _yeah, I'm cool but I don't try._ He looked somewhat disinterested at first, but then James said something to him that made him crack a grin. A gorgeously crooked, slightly dimpled grin that made Kendall's heart skip a beat. Almost immediately, Kendall pushed the thought out of his head, but it was too late- the seed had been planted, and there was nothing he could do.

"Ooh, if James knows him, this'll be easy!" Jo grabbed Stephanie's hand and started pulling her towards the two boys, but it was too late- Carlos was already there.

"JAMES!" cried the Latino as he launched himself onto his taller friend.

"Carlitos!" James shouted back playfully, shoving his best friend into a locker gently.

Kendall cracked a grin as his two best friends horsed around for a couple seconds before James stopped to fix his hair. "Whassup, bro?" Kendall pulled James into a manly hug, and over his shoulder he could see the new guy watching the pair carefully through his sunglasses. Once Kendall let go, the girls moved in to give James hugs, but Kendall was still watching the new guy. Partially because he was curious about the boy and why he was with James, but also because- well, he just couldn't look away.

"So," began Jo, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "Who's your friend?" All eyes turned to James, including the man in questions'.

"This is my cousin, Logan Mitchell. He's finishing out his senior year here." Kendall bit back his surprise. Cousin? They looked absolutely nothing alike…and Kendall was pretty sure he had never heard of this Logan guy before. But then again, since when did he pay attention to every single member of James' extended family?

"Nice to meet you." Jo flashed a grin. "Where are you from, Logan?" She tossed her ash blonde hair over her shoulders. Kendall saw Stephanie roll her eyes and he couldn't help but agree, she _was_ laying it on a bit thick.

"Texas," murmured Logan, watching the group idly. It was sort of weird. An awkward and extremely unusual moment of silence ensued.

"Right! Well," began James, obviously trying to break the tension. "Logan this is, um, Jo, Lucy, Stephanie, Carlos and Kendall." Logan nodded once.

"Yes, the famous Carlos and Kendall." Kendall couldn't tell if he was trying to make his voice that raspy, or if it was just naturally that way. Just as he was about to open his mouth and say hi- something that he really shouldn't have found so hard to do- the bell rang, causing Kendall to flinch and Carlos to yelp.

"Smooth," snickered James. "Okay, where are you going Logan?"

Logan took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of dark brown eyes. "James, I don't need you to baby me. Just because your mother ordered it."

"Nobody can refuse James' mother, though," Carlos told him.

"I do."

"Just tell me where the fuck you're going Logan."

"Nope." Logan smiled and waved. "I'll see y'all around." He sauntered away lazily.

"You're drawling again!" James called after him. Logan just gave him the finger over his shoulder.

Kendall hated himself for feeling a little a jolt when Logan's voice took on that perfect little Texas twang.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N So I'm glad people liked the last chapter…yay. I hope this one doesn't bore you. I know where I'm going with this story, but introducing everything is so annoying. Gotta get it out of the way. Oh, and FYI: Jenny's in this story, only she's waaaaaaaaaay less accident prone.**

Palm Woods High wasn't really that different from Logan's school back in Dallas, only a bit smaller. Though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why it was named that when there wasn't a palm tree in sight for a hundred miles around.

As Logan headed off to lunch, he reflected on his day so far. Most of the people he had met were pretty friendly, but the majority of his teachers had decided to be annoying and make him stand up and introduce himself, like they were still in middle school. The only teacher he actually liked was his AP Calc teacher, Mr. Rollins. He was a funny guy; he seemed to know all the kids and made fun of them, but in a friendly way. Other than that, his English teacher was a bitch, his APUSH teacher was too monotone to pay attention to, his gym teacher was the typical dictator, and his Spanish 4 teacher was one of those crazy types who felt the need to act out everything she was saying.

Logan got in the lunch line and appraised the menu. He felt someone tap his arm and turned around. A small girl with curly blonde hair was looking up at him.

"Hi. Logan, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Jenny Tinkler. We're in the same English and Calc class."

"Right."

"Ah, man of few words I see. Do you wanna sit with us?"

"Depends, who's 'us'?" Jenny shrugged.

"Just me and a few other people. Why, do you have somebody better to sit with?"

Logan chuckled. "Apparently not. Okay, I'm game."

Jenny shot him a smile. "Great. We're over by the windows. Oh, by the way, where are you from? You sound like you're from the South or something."

Logan silently cursed his annoying tendency to slip into that stupid drawl. "I'm from Dallas."

"Aw. You're a cowboy. That's cute."

"Yeah, except I've never ridden a horse in my life."

Jenny winked. "That's not really important, now, is it?" She spun around and half-skipped away, but tripped over her own feet and almost ran into two people.

Logan turned around to get his food but was tapped again. He sighed when he saw it was James. "Seriously?"

"How's it going?"

"Fine," grumbled Logan, ordering a meatball sandwich from the lunch lady. "I actually have somewhere to sit, so you don't have to invite me."

"With Jenny?" Logan raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. So?"

James nodded. "She's nice. Her friends are okay. But, just so you know, that's also the girl that gave me the only paper cut in history that needed surgery in elementary school."

"It's _that _chick?"

"She's a lot less clumsy now, though."

"I'm glad." Logan paid for his lunch and turned around. "James, seriously. I want to be able to make my own friends."

"That's fine," responded James, following him. "But just so you know, I think you actually would get along with my friends too. I'm not just trying to be nice or whatever. Plus, Jo has decided that you're her future boyfriend."

Logan groaned. He hated these kinds of situations. "Are you gonna let her down gently for me?"

James grinned devilishly. "No fuckin' way. I'll let you take care of that."

"Bastard. You're a terrible friend. And cousin."

"You love me!" James jogged away to a table near the center of the room, where Carlos and Kendall were waiting for him.

_Kendall. _Logan wouldn't admit it to James, but damn, did Kendall do it for him. He wasn't really sure why. It wasn't like Kendall was Logan's type or anything. It was just something about him. Like maybe his tallness. Or his dark gold hair, or his slight dimples. Or his soft green eyes, which Logan had never seen in a guy. Whatever it was, it was distracting Logan like crazy, which was really stupid, since the guy hadn't even spoken to him yet. And James would kill him if he hit on his (straight) best friend.

"Logan!" Logan turned back to Jenny, who was sitting with her friends. There was another girl, with long red hair, and two guys, a Hispanic-looking dude and a guy with pale blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing. "Hey."

"Hi." Jenny smiled and patted the seat next to her. "That's Luis, that's Topher and this is April." April smiled and waved. Luis nodded. Topher, the eyebrow dude, didn't acknowledge Logan's presence. _Okaaaay then._

"So, Loge, you're from Texas?" Logan turned his attention back to Luis, who, he was grateful to see, also had an AP Calc book. Maybe he'd found people who actually enjoyed math (in Texas, not one of his friends had understood his preoccupation with the subject.)

"Yeah, I grew up in Dallas."

"That's cool. My grand mom lives in Austin."

"Oh, I have some cousins that live there."

The period passed by pretty quickly. Logan could feel people's eyes on him, which always made him uncomfortable, but it was expected. Nobody else seemed to notice though. April and Luis were friendly and Jenny was hilarious, if slightly clumsy. Topher didn't say anything, to anyone. At least, not until Jenny snatched his schedule.

"Lessee…wow, all AP classes huh? You don't strike me as the type…"

"Thanks?" Logan wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment.

"You've got AP Chem next… And _art_? Awww, you should've chosen Music as your elective…I have that last period."

"Um….music's not really my thing." This was actually a lie. Back in Dallas, he had played piano and occasionally sang in choir- he had a pretty decent voice- but truth be told, he didn't really like it that much. He wasn't the greatest musician. When the secretary had told him his options for his elective, it was either art or music, since all the cool ones, like Korean or Drama, had been filled. He went with art. At least he knew his way around a pencil.

"Psht. Lies. Music's everyone's thing." Jenny tossed his schedule back at him.

"Yeah, well, I didn't feel like being stuck with James for a whole period with singing."

"Oh yeah! I saw you walking with him earlier. How the fuck do you hit it off with the school player on the first day?"

"Yes, please tell us," drawled Topher, opening his mouth for the first time. "How does one get buddy-buddy with the amazing James _Diamond _ on the first day of school? We're simply dying to know."

Logan raised his eyebrows. "He's my cousin."

"Really?" questioned Jenny, oblivious to the sudden and slightly weird tension. "You guys don't-"

"Look anything alike, yeah, I know." Logan didn't look away from Topher. He didn't know what this kid's problem was, but he wasn't going to let himself be intimidated by some asshole on the first day. The bell buzzed loudly, abruptly ending their brief staring contest.

Logan walked into his chem class, which, once again, looked like just about every other chem class in the world, except it was slightly newer than the one he used back in Dallas. The tables were set up for pairs, in neat columns. He sat at the first empty one he saw, near the back of the room. His classmates trickled in, mostly in groups or pairs, and sat together at the tables. Their teacher, a tall, middle-aged man with a receding hairline, shuffled some papers at the front of the class. As the last person wandered in, he began to speak. "Hi, for those of you who don't know me I'm Mr. McIntyre, and this is AP Chemistry. Now, before-"

He was interrupted by two things- the loud bringing of the bell, just as Kendall dramatically slid through the door, looking like he had just run to class. "I'm not late."

The class laughed as Mr. McIntyre sighed. "Mr. Knight, I'd ask you not to make a habit of this, but having known you for three years, it's probably futile. Can you at least _try_ not to be late this year? I'd really like to make the most of our final year together and actually teach you something."

Kendall stood up straight and saluted him. "Sir, yes, sir."

"Take a seat, Kendall." Kendall moved towards the back of the room. There was only one available seat left. He almost froze when he saw who it was with- Logan, James' cousin. _Breathe, Kendall_, he reminded himself as he forced himself to keep walking. As he dropped his bag next to his chair, he tentatively smiled, so not to be rude. He almost had a heart attack when Logan smiled back. He turned towards the front of the room, pretending to be listening when he already knew what Mr. McIntyre was going to say.

"So, if you've never had me before, I'll tell you now that these will be your seats for the rest of the year. I won't change them unless you make me, but you really don't want to make me, so let's try to get along, shall we?" Nobody groaned or said anything, so Logan assumed they had all known this was coming and had chosen to sit next to their friends. Except him and Kendall. Although he hoped they could at least try to be friends.

As Mr. McIntyre started handing out papers and outlining the course, Kendall zoned, the majority of his brain wandering towards hockey and the upcoming tryouts (not that he had to try out, being captain) and a small portion still thinking about Logan. Then he felt somebody tap his arm. He turned to his right and saw Logan gesturing to the paper on his desk.

_You don't really strike me as the AP chem type (no offense)_

Kendall smiled and picked up his pen. He slid the paper over to Logan when he was done.

_Neither do you._

Logan smirked. _All of my classes are AP._

_Really? None of mine are. Science is my only good subject. It's probably just because Mr. Mac likes me. I'll fail this class though, I completely suck at math._

_Why didn't you take biology?_

_Ew. Dissecting cats, man. Not my thing._

_Are you a cat person?_

_I do have a cat. But it's the blood and guts part that bothers me._

_Oh that. Psht. Wouldn't a hockey captain be used to blood?_

_Mainly the guts. And the smell. How do you know I'm the hockey captain?_

_James talks about you and Carlos all the time. By the way, where do I sign up? (Guts don't bother me)_

_Oh you play? We're having tryouts soon, I'll tell you when. (You must be a weirdo to not be bothered by having your hands in another person's organs)_

_Yeah I play. And I want to be a doctor, sort of. _

_You don't sound so sure about that. Why didn't you take biology then?_

_I took it last year. And can't dreams change? I came here to get away from the way things used to be. _

Kendall wrinkled his forehead. How did they end up on a topic so heavy? _And how did those things used to be?_

Logan just shook his head. _It's not worth getting into._

_Okay then….so…. how do you like PWH so far?_

The period passed by pretty quickly as the boys passed notes, ignoring Mr. Mac almost completely. The bell rang when they were in the middle of a conversation about their favorite hockey teams. As Logan packed up his things, he realized that James was right. He liked Kendall- he was a cool guy, funny, and seemed pretty confident. Not to mention he was so fucking attractive. Even if he was only to look at, not to touch.

"So where are you going?" Kendall asked Logan, making him jump. Then he laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just… I haven't actually heard you talk yet."

Kendall cracked an adorable smile. "Oh yeah, and I've only heard you say like three sentences or whatever."

"I'm going to art, since you asked."

"Ah."

"You?"

"Music."

"What is up with you people and music?"

"Why? Do you not like music or something?" Kendall raised an eyebrow. Logan shrugged.

"Everybody likes music. I just don't know why all these people are in the same music class."

"Who's 'all these people'?"

"Uh…you, Jenny and James."

Kendall laughed. "Oh yeah dude, that's a ton of people. Wow. We must all be music obsessed."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Do you play something, or what?"

Kendall looked away, slightly embarrassed, although he wasn't certain why. "Uh… I play the guitar. Though sometimes I sing with James and Jenny. I try not to get any solos though, James nearly blows a gasket when Jenny gets some."

Logan looked up in surprise. "Is Jenny good?"

"Dude, she's a freaking amazing singer. If a bit klutzy."

Logan chuckled. "Yeah, I hear that." He stopped when he saw a room that was obviously the art room.

"So… I guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure." Kendall sort of wanted to switch to art, so he could keep talking to Logan, but immediately scolded himself for thinking that. "Bye."

As Kendall scurried off, Logan looked after him curiously. That was sort of weird…but Kendall seemed like kind of weird guy so he dismissed it as he walked in the room. There were six tables with four chairs. He sat down at the closest one, with a Goth girl who barely looked up when he sat down, a sort of pudgy guy, and an Asian girl he remembered from his English class, who he believed was named Kitten.

"Hey," she smiled up at him. He greeted her back as he looked around the room. He recognized practically no one, except for Topher a few seats away. Logan was definitely not going to initiate any sort of contact with him. "So you're new, right?" He turned back to Kitten.

"Yeah. I'm Logan."

"So I'll warn you now…" Kitten pointed towards the back of the room, where there was a woman in a long, flowy skirt sorting through papers. "Kristen is a pretty cool teacher, but you have to actually try. Like, she doesn't care if you're a sucky artist or whatever, but you have to at least attempt something, not just sit there. Anthony made that mistake sophomore year." She gestured towards the pudgy guy next to Logan.

"It's not my fault I suck at modern art!" Anthony protested. Kitten rolled her eyes.

"Kristen?" Logan questioned.

"Yes, my dear." The woman from the back of the room had magically appeared behind them, making Logan jump and Anthony let out a little scream. Kitten giggled quietly.

"Um…hi?" Logan wasn't sure how to greet this woman. She was fairly pretty and young, in her mid-thirties, he would guess, with dirty blonde hair and a million pieces of metal jewelry- earrings, necklaces, bracelets, all clanking around on her.

"I prefer that my students call me by my first name." She smiled at him warmly. "That way, we can all feel comfortable enough to create our art in here."

"Uh, okay." She turned around and walked to the center of the room, her skirt swishing as she took each step.

"Now, I am certain that by the end of this day you're all very tired of introductions, outlines, blah blah blah. So instead, I'll give you a brief introduction to senior art in a slightly different way." She started handing out sketchbooks, the nice kind that you had to get at an art store. "These books will become your lifeline this year. Anything, anytime, anywhere, whatever you feel, draw it in these. It doesn't matter how good it is, or what it is you're drawing, just so long as you draw." Her eyes locked with Logan for a second when she handed him his sketchbook. He recognized the brand- he used to have several just like it.

"Now," she said, clapping her hands and looking around at her students. "To break in these new sketchbooks, let's all try and draw something in this room. To commemorate our first day of your senior year. It doesn't matter what, you just have ten minutes. GO!"

Logan got out a pencil and looked at the blank page. He hadn't drawn in a while. He used to draw all the time, when he was a kid, but when he got older his parents wanted him to focus more on school; they said drawing wasn't worthy of his time. Not that it mattered what they said now. When people used to ask him, he would say "I haven't drawn in years," but that wasn't true. He still drew, just late at night, when he was alone in his room and stuck with insomnia. The entire summer, though, he hadn't drawn a single thing.

Logan looked around, trying to decide what to draw. Finally, he settled on Kitten, since she was right across from him. He almost asked her, but then decided against it. It wasn't like she would ever know, and besides, he didn't want to break her concentration. She actually looked very pretty, staring determinedly at whatever she was sketching- possibly her shoe.

"Okay, class, time's up, pencils down," called out Kristen. Logan looked up in surprise. He hadn't even noticed the time passing, he had been so focused on Kitten. He looked down at his drawing. He had gotten down her profile and face pretty well; he had focused on that part so he could capture how focused she was with her own drawing. Her arms weren't finish, but her upper body was fairly outlined. It was a pretty decent drawing, he thought, for someone who hadn't drawn in three months.

"What'd you draw?" Logan was so taken aback by Anthony's sudden question that he didn't try to snatch back his book when it was taken out of his grip. He saw Anthony's brow furrow, then his mouth form a little o.

"What is it?" Kitten questioned curiously, looking up from her own sketch. Goth Girl looked up, too, but she didn't say anything.

"Damn, son! You just drew this now?"

"Yes," muttered Logan, annoyed that Anthony had seen it. Now Kitten would want to see it too.

"What is it, Ant?" Kitten snatched the book lightly out of his hands and turned it around. "Oh wow, Logan! That's really great! Did you just draw that in the ten minutes we had?"

"Sorry I drew you." Logan took the book back.

"Are you kidding me, that's amazing! I can't draw people like that at all, how did you do that?" Logan just shrugged. He closed the book and felt eyes on him, yet again. He turned around and saw Kristen standing not far away. She was watching him, but didn't say anything. Logan was glad. The last thing he needed was to get any more attention than he had already this day. Although he wouldn't mind a little more attention from a certain gorgeous, green-eyed blonde…


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: hey so sorry it's taken me so long to update…oops…uh…my bad. I've just had a lot of work to do lately and stuff and uh…other things. Like…watching Sherlock. Heh heh… Anyhoo! No needs to worry now because I'm actually writing again! Yay! But don't expect me to update much in the next few weeks, finals are coming up and I'll be cramming as usual…but after the first week of June I'm a free woman, yessss! (Uh-oh I guess I just screwed up my anonymity a bit, now you know that I'm not half the population.)**

As Kendall strummed along to the school choir, he couldn't help but feel a little bored. He loved music, but he always got tired of playing the same songs over and over on his guitar, and frankly, he was tired of listening to James sing, too. He knew James was a better singer than him by far(1), but he liked to think that he was a better songwriter. He had been writing songs for years, usually with his old friend Dustin from camp, and they may have not all been that good, but there were a few that he was quite proud of.

Right now, though, Kendall wasn't bored because he wanted to mess around and play his own stuff; he was bored because a certain brunette guy wasn't sitting next to him. It was crazy that he felt that way at all- after all, he only just met Logan, and it wasn't like they had done anything amazing together or anything. They had just chit-chatted about random boring shit. But for some reason, with Logan, Kendall found it interesting. He felt like he had a good feel for Logan already. He could tell that Logan was way smarter- and shyer- than his so-called bad-boy appearance gave the impression of. He could also tell that Logan was a genuine and funny guy, if a bit weird. Kendall was usually good at reading people, but he was pretty sure that his judgement on Logan was pretty spot-on, which was odd since, again, they had only met that day.

Kendall was so lost in his thoughts that he barely noticed it when the bell rang, until James tapped him on the shoulder and said, "You coming, or what?"

Kendall nodded and got up. He would have to get better at pretending like Logan didn't affect him at all, or else even James and the ever-oblivious Carlos would be able to tell that…never mind.

As Kendall followed him through the hallway, James turned around and said to him, "You got any plans for this afternoon?"

Kendall shrugged. "Not really. Why, do you wanna do something?"

"I was thinking you and Carlos can come to my house to hang out."

"I have to walk Katie home first."

"We'll give her a ride."

"Cool." Kendall and Carlos usually hung out at Kendall's house, since it was just Katie there most of the time. Mama Knight, as everyone called her, was a single mother working as a secretary and part-time at the library, so she typically got home late along with enough take-out food to feed a small army (Kendall, James, and Carlos managed to demolish it in a few minutes.) James' house, though, was far more fun in Kendall's eyes: true, they weren't allowed to touch about half the things in it, but it was virtually a mansion, so the other half was still twice as big as Kendall's house. Plus, it helped that they had a fully stocked kitchen, a pool with a high dive, and an entertainment center with a giant plasma screen and every video game imaginable. The only downside was that Kelly was there 24/7, and usually managed to get in the way of their mischief.

Kendall and James managed to snag Carlos leaving his Stat class- the lowest level math for the seniors, something that he and Kendall had in common. Kendall wasn't the smartest guy, but he did pretty good in all of his classes- except for math. Math had just always been a problem for him, and even with the easiest class possible this year, he could already tell he was going to be struggling.

They said bye to some friends and hugged the Lucy, Stephanie, and Jo. Kendall didn't miss the way Steph's eyes slid across Carlos longingly, or the way Carlos obliviously- like he always did. They walked out to the student parking lot where James had parked his ridiculously expensive black and red BMW. They stopped next to it and waited for James to open it, but he made no move too.

"Uh…dude?" Kendall questioned.

"Yeah?"

"What are you waiting for? Open the car."

"Oh." James grimaced. "I don't have the keys."

"Then how…" Kendall trailed off as Logan approached behind Carlos.

"Jesus, Logan, take forever!" James exclaimed overdramatically. "We're dying in the heat out here."

"Oh please," Logan snorted. "Minnesota has nothing on Texas in the heat department. It's, like, seventy degrees out here." He pulled out James' keys and unlocked the car, then got in the driver's seat. James went for the passenger side. Kendall looked at Carlos and quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing as they climbed in the back.

Logan started the engine as James said, "We need to swing by the middle school to pick up Kendall's little sister. Oh, and how was your first day?"

"How do you get to the middle school? And it was fine, thank you very much."

"Just turn left, then left again, it's right down the road."

Logan nodded. "So Kendall, you have a sister? What's her name?"

"Uh…" Kendall was pulled out of the temporary trance he was in from watching someone else drive James' car, something that was only permitted by James when he was too drunk to drive. "Her name is Katie. She's in the seventh grade but she's way smarter and older-seeming than that, so you should watch out when we get her. She could eat you alive, no offense."

Logan chuckled. "None taken. I know someone like that, so I think I can manage to not piss her off

"Do you have any sisters, Logan?" Carlos questioned.

"No, I'm an only child… I was talking about my friend Camille, back ho- in Texas. We're the same age but she's basically like a sister to me, I guess. We've been best friends since we were like eleven, so…"

"Aw, that's cute. Do you like her?"

Kendall felt an immediate fire in his belly when Carlos asked that, but it went away just as quickly when Logan said, "As if. No way. James has a humongous crush on her, though. Too bad she won't give him the time of day."

Kendall and Carlos laughed while James pouted. "Hey! You would like her too if you felt that slap."

"Dude, what! She slapped you? Why?" Kendall couldn't say he was surprised, since James got slapped by girls a lot- usually when he dumped them. It was a rare thing when a girl wasn't interested in him though.

"No fucking reason! She just did it!"

Logan cracked a grin. "Camille wants to be an actress, but she refers to very method-esque fashions. I've been slapped more times than I can count, unfortunately. And kissed a few times, too."

Kendall stopped laughing as the image of Logan making out with a mystery girl burned itself into his brain. Meanwhile, Carlos teased, "It's like being a couple, but without the sex."

James rolled his eyes. "Like you would know anything about sex. Or being a couple."

"Hey!" Carlos shouted, pouting. "I resent that. Take it back."

"Make me." James stuck his tongue out at the backseat.

"Not while I'm driving, guys!" Logan shouted while James half-climbed over the seat to get in a slap fight with Carlos.

Kendall laughed. "Break it up, guys, or Katie will do it for you."

Logan pulled over in front of a building that looked basically like the high school, only slightly smaller and with younger kids. Kendall rolled down the window and leaned out to shout at a petite brunette girl standing a bit away with a chubby red-headed kid. "Katie! C'mon!"

Katie walked over to the car. "Really, Big Brother? You couldn't even bother to get out of the car to get your own sister?"

Kendall grinned. "Sorry, Baby Sister. Get in, we're giving you a ride home." He slid over to the middle seat to make room.

Katie looked at Logan in the front seat. "Who are you?"

"Katie!" Kendall scolded. "That's really rude, you know."

Katie shrugged. "I'm not driving away in a car being driven by some guy I've never seen before in my life."

Kendall was slightly mortified, but Logan only laughed and turned around. "Smart girl." He stuck out his hand for Katie to shake. "I'm Logan, I just moved here, and James is my cousin, which is why I'm driving his car."

"At least until my mom gets him a car of his own," James cut in as Logan began to drive away again.

"She shouldn't buy me a car," Logan grumbled sourly.

"Deal with it."

"Will your mom buy me a car, James?" Carlos asked.

James turned around to whap Carlos again. "Shut the fuck up, you moocher."

Logan dropped Katie in front of Kendall's house, a small-ish but pretty standard suburban looking home with a driveway with a basketball hoop, a lawn with a tree, and a small porch with a swing. Kendall waited until he saw Katie had gotten in okay before he told Logan to drive away.

They pulled into James' driveway and Logan locked the car, tossing the keys on the front table when they walked in the door. "We're home, Kelly!" James hollered while they walked in the direction of the kitchen. "And we brought Carlos and Kendall."

Kelly walked in after them. "I figure you would. Can I get you boys anything?"

"We're good," said Carlos, his mouth already stuffed with chips that had magically appeared. The other boys already had their arms full of junk food and sodas, as well. Kelly sighed. "Of course."

They moved into the media room and Kelly and James interrogated Logan about his day, something he did not appreciate, but he responded nevertheless. Kendall mentioned that they were lab partners in Chem, but he didn't bring up the note they had passed all class or the fact that it was still in his bag.

The afternoon turned into evening as they played video games, a quick game of basketball in the backyard, more video games, watched some videos on Youtube, and played even more video games. Before they knew it, it was nearly seven and Kendall and Carlos had to get home for dinner, even though Kelly had already offered to cook for them. Logan learned that Kendall's mom was a single mom and he saw his dad once a month, that Katie was sort of the boys' collective younger sister even though she was usually more mature than them, that Carlos' dad was a police lieutenant and his mom was realtor, and that Carlos had two younger brothers and one older.

Kendall was half excited, half annoyed as he got his stuff together to go home. Logan, as predicted, fit in their group perfectly- he was easy to get along with, funny and cool, but also crazy smart and a little less rambunctious as the rest of them. Kendall felt like he had known Logan most of his life and there had been no awkwardness at all the whole time they were together. But Kendall had also been hoping that Logan wouldn't be so cool, so he wouldn't want to hang out with him again, or at least not that much. No such luck.

"I'll drive you." James grabbed his keys as Kendall and Carlos headed to the door. Then Kendall noticed Logan wasn't with them. Carlos apparently did too, since he asked curiously, "Hey, don't you have to go home, Logan."

Logan looked confused for a second, then his face suddenly smoothed out into a cryptic expression. "Oh, I am home. I mean, I live here."

"Oh." Kendall felt a question at the tip of his tongue that he knew he shouldn't ask, but Carlos did anyway.

"Really? With your parents?"

Logan shook his head. "No, they're back in Texas. It's just me her with James and Brooke. And Kelly."

Carlos looked like he was going to ask something else, but James interrupted to say, "Well, we gotta get going, so see ya Logan bye!" He rushed them out the door, and Kendall didn't say anything when he changed the topic as they got into the car.

Logan breathed a sigh of relief as they got into the car and drove away. He was thankful to James for intervening. He didn't want to hide things from Kendall and Carlos, especially after they treated him like they were already best friends. But it really wasn't something he wanted to talk about, and James said Carlos had a tendency to spill secrets.

He went to his room and took out his phone to call Camille, having promised to update her on life in Minnesota.

"Omigod, hey!" was the first thing he heard when Camille picked up the phone.

He chuckled. "Hey yourself, Camille. What's up?"

"Nothing much. First day was boooorrring without you there. We all mourned and ate crappy pizza. Except Josh, he needs extra carbs or some shit so he ate like three tacos and a hamburger too."

"Damn those athlete types. Oh! Get this. They have an actual hockey team here. And I have an in with the Captain, so my chances are looking pretty good."

"Aw, so you don't have to practice with a lame community team anymore. Who's your in?"

"James' friend Kendall."

"Ooh, I sense crush!"

"What? How the fuck do you sense that? And I don't have a crush on Kendall!"

"Logan, honey, I know you better than anyone else. I can tell from you tone of voice."

"Well, I don't have a crush on Kendall, so…"

"You sure about that?

"_Yes. _He's straight. God."

"Doesn't mean you can't daydream about him for a bit."

"Okay, fine! I'm extremely attracted to him, okay? But there's nothing else there. I swear."

"Whatever you say, Logan. Tell me when you're planning on making a move."

"_Camille._"

"Sorry, sorry. So how's everything else?"

"Uh…okay. The school here is basically like ours, just smaller. I met some people, but James' friends seem cool too."

"Do they know you're gay?"

"Not yet…."

"Logan! You can't hide this."

"I'm not hiding it, okay? I'll tell people if it comes up. But you don't say 'Hey! I'm a raging homosexual!' to people on the first day of school right after you tell them your name. It's not important."

"Not important? Really?"

"You know what I mean. Not _relevant. _God"

"Go-od." Camille mimicked him in a Napoleon Dynamite tone.

"Shut up. You're so annoying. Why am I even friends with you?"

She giggled. "Because you love me, darling. And because I'm the only person who knows about your secret alleyway sex fetish."

"CAMILLE! We swore that we would never speak of that."

"Oops, sorry. It'd be a shame if I let it slip at the lunch table tomorrow. Or possibly on Facebook…"

Logan sighed. "Okay, fine. You're a wonderful friend and an amazing person. I'm lucky to even know you. Happy?"

"If you were here, I'd slap you, then kiss you."

"So that's a yes."

"Anything else interesting going on?"

"Aunt Brooke is buying me a car, but Kelly is forcing me to drive James' until she does. Oh, and I have art class this year."

"Figures that you'd get a car as soon as you're far away from me. Wait! Art! Does that mean drawing? Do I detect an _artiste_? Dude! Are you getting bitten by the art bug again?"

"_No. _I'm just taking it for an arts credit, okay? Being a doctor is still number one priority."

"Are you sure about that, Logie?" Camille's voice is hesitant and Logan doesn't miss the way she uses her special nickname for him. "I mean… you don't have to feel obligated any more… you know…"

"I know, I just- never mind. I- it's almost dinner time. I should go see if Kelly needs any help."

Camille chuckled. "She does get paid to do stuff for you, you know."

"Doesn't mean she has to turn into a slave."

"Hey Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Call me tomorrow?"

Logan smiled softly. "Of course I will. I gotta go now. Love you, Cami."

Camille breathed a sigh of relief, no doubt because she could tell he wasn't mad at her. "Love you too, Logie. Bye."

Logan hung up and collapsed backwards on his bed. He was furiously blocking the last things Camille had said out of his mind, and found the perfect distraction: a certain blonde guy who really sucked at Mario Kart but was great at everything else…

After eating with his family and telling his mother about his day, Kendall went up to his room and turned on his computer out of boredom. There wasn't much to be done, except listen to music, but he got on Facebook briefly anyway just to check stuff out. Scrolling through posts absentmindedly, he noticed one in particular- Jo and Stephanie's surprisingly public conversation about that hot new guy, oh yeah, Logan. Kendall hesitated, but then, realizing it was stupid to be nervous and that no one would think anything of it, least of all Logan, went to add "Logan Mitchell" to his friends. He told himself that it didn't really matter whether or not Logan accepted, he probably didn't even care about a stupid Facebook thing, but he kept his computer on as he listened to music on Pandora. And when he checked his profile again a little later, he told himself it was just to check to see if there was anything new because he was bored, but he couldn't help the little thrill that went through him when he saw his friend request had been accepted.

**(1)- I actually don't think this, James is probably my least favorite singer in the group. This is just to show Kendall's insecurities.**

**So….nothing interesting has been happening so far, I know. But I promise that things will speed up, and there will be Kogan action, y'all just have to wait a few chapters. Bear with me here **

**I'm gonna go watch Zombieland with my dad now. Just felt the need to inform you with that. Until next time :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, here it is. So again, I apologize for taking so long to update! Damn school. But now that's done (at least until September), so I'll update more Oh, and sorry for the slowness of the situation. I swear there will be Kogan soon, and more drama and fluff and smut and shit…**

A week, then two, passed and Logan found himself getting more used to life in Shakopee. School was pretty much the same that it always was- if anything, the classes were easier. Life took a pretty steady pattern- drive James to school (they still hadn't bothered to get Logan a car), go to classes, eat lunch with Jenny and her friends, get glared at by Topher, try not to draw too much attention in art class, drive home (usually with Carlos and Kendall) and spend the evening doing whatever before calling Camille or Josh to keep them updated. Logan didn't really mind this pattern. He saw Brooke occasionally, but she mostly worked so Kelly looked after them. He had made a decent number of what he thought of as acquaintances. Jo, to Logan's dismay, hadn't taken a hint yet, though, granted, he rarely saw her. Meanwhile, his attraction to Kendall had unfortunately turned into a crush. He couldn't really help it. They just clicked well. Logan felt like he had known both Kendall and Carlos practically his whole life, and he found that he just generally liked everything about Kendall. He reluctantly admitted it to Camille, and she excitedly ignored his protests that Kendall was straight and James would kill him, so there was nothing to go for. Josh, on the other hand, took another approach.

"Are you sure he's one hundred percent straight?"

"_Yes." _Logan was becoming extremely annoyed with his friends. "What is with you guys?"

"Nothing, Logan. It's just that, for a gay guy, you don't have a very good gaydar. Need I remind you about Max? Or Lucas? Or-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But he's my cousin's best friend. They're like brothers. It's weird."

"Maybe. But just relax, Logan. Don't go all neurotic on him, but don't bottle everything up."

"I don't do that…"

"_Logan._"

"Okay, so what do I do?"

"Just…let things play out. Don't listen to Camille, either."

"You don't think I know that? I may be gay, but I refuse to let my life turn into her own personal chick-flick."

Josh laughed. Camille was such a drama queen sometimes.

One lunch period, exactly two weeks into the school year, Logan was doing last-minute homework for art and asked Jenny if he could draw her.

"Sure. Do I have to pose or anything?"

"Nah, just keep eating or whatever. Just forget that I'm here temporarily." Logan didn't miss the way Topher looked at him across the table. He ignored it and took out his sketchpad.

When he was done, he showed her a picture he had sketched of her stuffing a piece of pizza in her mouth. He tried to capture the way, even when she was eating, she was brimming with energy and warmth. "Wow, Logan," Jenny breathed as she looked at the picture. "You actually made me look good."

"You do look good, Jenny." He took the book back, nervous about its fate when she was holding it.

She beamed. "Thanks, Logan. You're a really good artist."

When she got up to go talk to someone else, Topher imitated under his breath. "Oh yeah Logan, you can draw me in the nude any time. Oh Jenny, you're saw mediocre compared to the other chicks I do."

Logan snapped his gaze back to Topher from where it had been resting on Kendall. April and Luis hastily pretended like they were busy. "Dude, what the fuck's your problem?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, _dude_." Topher said in a nasty voice. Logan narrowed his eyes.

"I mean it. You've been giving me shit and death glares since the first day of school. Did I do something wrong?" He jerked his head back at Jenny and said, "Is it her? Got a thing for your best friend? 'Cause if you're not gonna do anything about it, she's fair game to _anyone,_ not just me. Not that I'd go for it."

Topher snorted. "I knew it. You're just flirting with her to mess with her. You're just another manipulative player."

"So what if I'm a player?" He wasn't really a _player…_

"Tell me, how many girls have you gotten to drop their pants for you and then dumped? I had you pegged from the moment I saw you. You're a man-whore who gets pleasure from messing with people with Jenny and fucking virgins. You people are so easy to read."

Logan was sort of appalled that Topher thought all of this about them, but from Topher's tone of voice, he figured Topher was going through some shit and was taking it out on him. Still, that didn't give him an excuse.

Logan slammed his books down on the table, making April jump slightly. "Well I guess you're not very good at reading people, because I'm gay."

Whatever Topher was expecting him to say, it wasn't that. His mouth actually opened in shock. Luis looked up from his bag and April said involuntarily, "Really?"

"Yep." Logan didn't break his gaze from Topher's. "I'm a homosexual and would rather fuck a dude than Jenny 'cause she doesn't have a dick. Y'all have a _problem _with that?"

"No." Logan could tell that Luis was being honest and so was April as she shook her head. Topher still didn't say anything.

"I'm leaving." Logan got up and walked away, throwing out his lunch as he went. Then he walked straight up to Jenny.

"Hey, Logan."

"Jenny, do you have a crush on me?"

"Wh-what? Why?"

"Because I'm gay. I just thought you should know."

"Oh." Jenny was surprised but hid it well. "Oh. That's cool. I mean, I don't have a crush on you. And, I'm, you know, cool with it."

Logan nodded. "Cool. And I probably won't sit with you tomorrow."

"Why not?"

"Just a little disagreement Topher and I had."

"Over what? He's not being a dick, is he?"

"Sort of. But there's nothing to be worried about." Logan smirked across the cafeteria at where Topher was staring at the table while April reprimanded him. "I think he learned his lesson."

…..

Note passing and messing around in Chemistry had become a regular thing for Kendall and Logan. Kendall thought that, until hockey started at least, it was probably his favorite part of the day. As much as he hated it, he and had Logan had an undeniable connection. They got along great, had a lot of fun, and seemed to know each other inside and out, or at least pretty well for people who only had known each other for a couple of weeks. He tried not to read too much into it, because Logan and Carlos got along insanely well, too, but it was hard to not let his imagination run away with him…

"Mr. Knight!" Kendall jumped when Mr. McIntyre called his name.

"Uh…yeah?" The class laughed while Mr. Mac made a face.

"I was wondering if you could bother to get your head out of the clouds and tell me what K stands for on the periodic table."

"Um…potassium?" Kendall had at least bothered to do the homework for chemistry. He had already blown off statistics practically the entire week.

Mr. McIntyre just rolled his eyes as he went back to writing on the board while lecturing the class. Logan was shooting Kendall a face like, _What are you thinking about_? Kendall shook his head and tried to focus on the tiresome class.

This wasn't allowed. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. He had spent these last few years denying it, and it had worked pretty well, except for- well, that was a mistake and he wasn't going to think about it. Damn Logan for being so adorable and sexy and easy to like. He would probably be disgusted with Kendall for thinking about him so much and waking up in the mornings with Logan's name on his lips. Probably everyone would be, just like Dad.

When Mr. McIntyre told them to get out their materials, Logan turned to Kendall while he was getting the Bunsen burner situated. Kendall had been spacing out a lot lately, especially when they were in Chem it seemed, and though he was probably imagining it, he could swear every once in a while Kendall would glance at him and blush.

"Are you okay?" Kendall jumped slightly at Logan's question.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Nothing, it's just that you've been staring off into space a lot lately. Is something wrong?"

"Uh, no. It's all good." Logan's eyes narrowed.

"You're a pretty good liar."

Kendall's mouth opened in surprise. "I'm not lying!"

Logan smiled. "Yes, you are."

"How do you know?"

"You have a tell."

Kendall's brow crinkled. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's not too noticeable, but it's there. I'm pretty good at spotting them, I'm great at poker. Now what's bothering you, really?"

"Well…" Kendall was still wondering what his tell could be. "I'm already doing really bad in statistics and we're only a few weeks into the school year." _Not actually a lie._

"Seriously?"

Kendall groaned. "I know. It's not even that hard math, but I just don't get it. I suck at math. I probably shouldn't have been in Chemistry either. I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid." Logan seemed to be sympathetic. "You're just not good at it."

"Easy for you to say," Kendall grumbled. "You're like a genius. Jenny told me you're the top of the class in Calculus. Like all of your classes are AP."

Logan felt a little flattered that Kendall thought so highly of him. Usually he tried not to bring up school in conversation because his friends back home- his friends in _Texas_ got bored. "I'm not a _genius._ Stuff like this just comes easier to me, that's all. I bet you didn't know that I suck at English. Brings down my GPA every year."

Kendall snorted. "Seriously? But English is so…easy." Then he realized that was a tactless thing to say, but Logan just laughed.

"Not to me, it isn't. English is, like, the bane of my existence. James could tell you _all _about it."

"I guess." Kendall paused. "But I'm still failing Stat."

"Well…" Logan hesitated. Should he, or should he not? He decided to go for it. The worst that could happen was Kendall would say no. The best would be he got to spend extra time with a really hot and sweet guy. "I could, y'know, help you out, or whatever…"

Kendall looked at Logan. "Like…tutor me?"

"If you want me to…"

Kendall said "Sure," before he could even think about it. _Damn it!_ he cursed in his brain. Now he would be stuck alone with Logan more than ever. Not that that was a bad thing, but it was for his sanity. "I mean, if you don't mind."

Logan grinned, trying to hide how happy he was about Kendall's response. "I don't mind at all." The bell rang before he got the chance to ask Kendall when he wanted to meet. Kendall packed up his stuff as fast as possible so Logan wouldn't notice how red his face was.

Logan wandered into art class aimlessly, simultaneously dreading and counting on what the class had in store for him. Though they had only been in school for a few weeks, it was becoming clear that Logan was one of, if not _the, _top students. He hadn't lost his talent from when he was younger at all. He was best at drawing things like people and other moving, living objects, though he wasn't bad at still-lifes either. Kristen had promised that later in the year they would get into new techniques, like abstract, painting, and maybe even sculpture, but for now they were mainly just sketching.

"Hey, Loges!" Kitten smiled brightly up at Logan as he took his seat next to Anthony. It had become a regular thing that he would sit with them and Goth Girl (Logan _still_ didn't know her name, and it wasn't from lack of trying: nobody seemed to know).

Logan smiled back at her and greeting Anthony and Goth Girl before taking out his sketchbook to show Kristen when she got around to checking. For such an easy-going teacher, she really came down hard about the homework. "You should be able to find inspiration in everything; besides, drawing will relax you," she had lectured earlier on.

"What'd ya draw?" asked Anthony, leaning over curiously. Logan sighed and pushed his sketchbook to the center of the table so that they could look; this, too, had become a regular thing.

"That's that girl Jenny, right?" Logan swore he heard a hint of jealousy in Kitten's voice. "You hang out with her a lot, right?"

Logan shrugged. "I guess."

"She's hot," Anthony commented, almost as if it was an afterthought. "Total disaster, though. In the seventh grade, she stabbed me so hard with a pencil that it burst a blood vein, and then she spilled _all _of the hydrogen peroxide on it at the nurse's office. Burned like hell."

"Uh…she's not really that bad anymore." It seemed like every time he talked about Jenny with someone, they had a story about her getting into some sort of accident.

As Kristen began the class, Logan felt his mind wandering back to Kendall. Normally he tried to remain attentive in art, but he couldn't really help it, Kendall was just so damn captivating. He was so adorable, yet really really HOT at the same time. His skin, it looked so soft, and so did his plump lips…Logan would love to get lost in them. To run his hands through Kendall's dirty blonde mop. To stare deeply into his pale green eyes. God, those eyes… And he loved the way Kendall frowned when concentrating, it was too cute. Just like his ginormous eyebrows. The one thing that Logan hadn't gotten to admire in full was Kendall's body, just because he hadn't seen it. God, what he would give to see Kendall shirtless. He could feel his jeans tightening already and promptly decided to try and focus on the lesson again.

…..

The next day, Logan wandered into the cafeteria and bought his lunch before heading towards James' table. He hesitated for a moment before he got closer. Although he and Kendall and Carlos were all pretty tight now, he wasn't sure that the others wouldn't mind him being there. For all his outward appearances, Logan actually wasn't that sure of himself, and he was constantly second guessing what people thought nowadays, since last April. Then he decided it was stupid and just went over to where they were sitting.

"Logan!" Jo greeting, a bit too warmly, as he slid in next to Kendall casually. He groaned inwardly; she still had that stupid crush on him. "Hey, Jo."

"Joining us today?" she smiled flirtatiously, leaning across the table towards him. Kendall not-so-subtly rolled his eyes. Before he had asked her out, his ex-girlfriend had played coy and practically made him beg to go out with her. What was different with Logan, that she would be so forward? Well, Kendall could see the appeal, obviously, but...

"If you don't mind," Logan offered quietly. _How could anyone mind you? _Kendall wondered silently.

Meanwhile, Logan did a quick name-check in his head- there was Kendall, Carlos and James, obviously, Jo, the Asian chick was Lucy, the brunette girl was Stephanie, and the handsome guy at the end was Dak, from his Spanish class. He was pretty cool and they had spoken a few times, and damn he was good eye candy, but Logan could still think of one blonde that got him better.

The group resumed their conversation and Logan put his two cents in every now and then, just like he was one of them. Somehow, the topic turned into personal grooming, or rather, Carlos' lack thereof and James' excess.

"I'm telling you, Carlos, you could change everything about your looks if you let me put a little Cuda in your hair. Logan let me- even Kendall let me, once!"

"I won't let myself turn into your Barbie doll," said Carlos firmly, while the rest of the group laughed hysterically at his repelled expression.

James just kept ranting, oblivious to the laughter. "And those clothes, too! Honestly Carlos, they're wrinkled! Did you just grab whatever was on the floor?"

"So what if I did?" Carlos challenged.

James shook his head, frustrated. "I swear to god, one of these days I'm going to drag you to the mall and show you how to dress- and take care of you nails properly."

"James, man," Logan laughed, "your gay is showing." This was something James said to him a lot and it annoyed the fuck out of him, especially when James was right.

James snorted, getting the irony, but Lucy abruptly stopped laughing and turned towards Logan, rage in her eyes. "That's not funny. That's not funny at all."

Logan was a little taken aback by her reaction, but before he got the chance to say anything, she started ranting. "Gay stereotypes- and any stereotypes really- are completely untrue and it's prejudiced to even say stuff like that. Only ignorant dicks do. Maybe all you've ever done is seen an episode of Glee and thought that made you the gay man expert, but for your information, my uncle is gay, my friend is transsexual and I know more than one lesbian, and none of those stupid stereotypes apply to them. So if you have problem with that, or if you're gonna keep saying shit like that, you can leave now. No offense. (1)"

Logan, for one, didn't know what to say to that, and he got the impression most of the group didn't know either, but Stephanie sort of looked like she wanted to cheer Lucy on or something. Kendall, meanwhile, was thinking a mile a minute about Lucy's outburst. He knew she had gay friends, but he had no idea she was so supportive of gay rights. Maybe his friends would be more accepting after all. Maybe she knew what was going on with him. _Not that there was anything going on with him, heh heh…_

James looked like he was about to bust with laughter any second, and when he caught Logan's shocked eye, he couldn't help it- he did. He cracked up and had to put his head on the table while trying to breathe. Logan started laughing at the sight of James uncontrollable outburst and put his head in his hands, still totally weirded out by the awkwardness of the situation.

"What!" Lucy shouted, effectively scaring Logan shitless and bringing James out of his fetal position on the bench.

"Lucy… You do realize…" James tried to speak in between his giggles. "You just gave a lecture about gay people to a gay guy." He busted out laughing again.

Logan snorted and leaned over to flick James' forehead. "It's not really that funny, prick."

Jo opened her mouth but nothing came out. Lucy cleared her throat awkwardly and Logan looked at her with an eyebrow quirked.

"Uh…"

Logan laughed. "It's cool, Lucy. Can't say I've ever been given the no-mo'-homophobe speech, though."

Lucy blushed. "Sorry…"

Logan waved it off. "It's fine. I appreciate you sticking up for…my people." Logan paused. "God, that sounded weird. Forget I ever said that, okay?"

"Seriously? You're gay?" Jo sounded extremely disappointed. Stephanie and Dak both looked amused, Carlos looked slightly confused, and Kendall's expression was unreadable.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Jo." Logan felt bad to let her down this way, but it was easier this way than waiting until she made a move- something Logan had great fear of. He turned back to Lucy. "And the thing about showing your gay is sort of an in-joke thing with me and James. He says it to me ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME."

"S-sorry." James was still giggling slightly.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Motherfucker." He threw a fry at James.

"Cocksucker." James retorted, dodging the fry.

"Pussy lover."

"Pussy _fearer."_

"We agreed never to speak of that!"

James cracked up again and Carlos scratched his head. "Okay, I'm lost."

"Dude." James grinned. "Logan is mostly fearless, but he has three things in this world that he fears more than anything else. One is giant spiders. One is, for some reason, being in a reality show with Joan Rivers, Chef Ramsay and Simon Cowell." Logan shuddered involuntarily. Who _wasn't _afraid of that? "And the third…his greatest fear of all… is vaginas."

The table collectively started laughing again while Logan blushed furiously. "It's not funny!"

"Are you serious?" Stephanie snickered. "You're really afraid of a girl's crotch?"

"Well, not _really_," defended Logan. "Just, you know, if it's unclothed and gets near me. They're fucking weird."

This comment amused everyone, especially when Lucy said, "I can't say I disagree with you."

The bell rang before they could discuss the matter any further, but as they were all packing up their things Dak turned to them and said, "Hey, don't forget, Mercedes' party is this Friday. You're all coming, right?" The group nodded and dispersed to their separate classes.

"Mercedes?" Logan questioned James as they walked along.

"Mercedes Griffin? You don't know her?" Logan shook his head. "Tall, blonde, hot in a scary way, gives the impression of a spoiled, stylish snob who can and will destroy you?"

"Uh… I think I would know who you were talking about if I knew her."

"Yes, you would. Long story short, her dad owns half the state, she's a rich bitch who gets what she wants, you don't wanna mess with her if you know what's good for you, and she throws the best parties in the tri-state area. Everyone goes, even the geeks."

"Thanks, James," Logan said sarcastically. He took personal offense to the term "geek".

"Whatevs."

As Logan rushed off to class, he thought that that had all gone over pretty well. James' friends were fairly cool, and Jo didn't seem TOO disappointed that he was into dicks more that vaginas (which he actually did have a slight fear of). When Logan had really been hoping for, though, was some sort of reaction out of Kendall, even if it was a bad one. Instead, he'd gotten nothing from the blonde. Either Kendall just had a really good poker face, or Josh and Camille's urging had gotten the better of him and he had imagined everything he thought they had. Kendall probably didn't care that much anyway.

What Logan didn't know was that Kendall did care. He cared a whole fucking lot, actually. He had managed to keep his face smooth and unsurprised through the entire "outing" of Logan, but it took just about all of his willpower not to jump Logan then and there. All he could do was thank the Lord that he hadn't had to outright lie and make Logan suspect something (he still hadn't figured out what his tell was, and not even his evil genius baby sister, Katie, had been able to figure it out for him.)

As Kendall slid into his seat, he desperately tried to distract his brain from Logan, but to no avail. He felt completely torn. One (large) piece of him was, as of this moment, on cloud nine doing a happy jig over Logan's professed homosexuality. One other significant part of him had sunken into the deepest pit of torture in hell, knowing he couldn't- and wouldn't- do anything about it. There was a small, rational piece of him that just wanted to let everything play out and not interfere, but he knew he shouldn't let that happen, he was already in deep enough. But was it too deep?

_Oh well,_ Kendall thought to himself, more frustrated than he had ever felt before. _I guess we'll just have to let the tutoring happen. It's not like it could hurt. Though a Friday night party filled with alcohol, pot and loud music, courtesy of Queen Mercedes, definitely could…_

**(1)- I know some people who (over)react to gay rights and stereotypes and shit like this. I can see how the comment James/Logan makes can be offensive though. I just thought, it's not so much if it's said ironically, right? Idk. I hope I didn't offend anyone. **

**Does anyone else hate the way gay people are depicted on Glee? That really fucking annoys me. Especially because some people are like, "Oh, it's such an accurate representation!" No, it's fucking not. It's not inaccurate, but not all gay guys are like that, okay? (Lol, here I am, pulling a Lucy.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am sooooooo sorry it took so long to update! I've been working on a (non-slash) one-shot story that's taking me foreeever…but it's almost done so I thought I'd come back to this. You guys should check it out.**

**I swear to god things will pick up, I am so, so sorry this must be so boring…just hold on a little longer. Please? :)**

Logan wasn't really the party type- not because he was never invited (he was), just because he wasn't that into it. Dancing wasn't really his thing, he didn't smoke or do any other drugs, and he was fairly social but absolutely hated being surrounded wall-to-wall sweaty people. The only thing to do at parties was either get drunk, or hook up with a stranger. Neither of which he could do, because he was James' designated driver (the price of repeatedly stealing the car), and he didn't yet know any gay guys to hook up with. He felt it might be a little too hopeful of him expect anything from a drunk Kendall.

The next Friday, Logan sighed warily as he got up to check his mediocre closet. He wasn't really the type to go crazy over clothes, at least only for a stupid high school party, but Camille always had been. And, unfortunately, so had James.

"Loooooo-gaaaaaaannn!" He heard his name being wailed down the hall. "I need an opinion!"

"Go get Kelly!" Logan shouted back. The only thing more annoying to him than being forced to try on dozens of outfits was watching James try on dozens outfits.

"You're not getting me in there!" Kelly shouted from somewhere else inside the house- probably the largest "guest" room, which, over the past few years, had basically become her room. She practically lived with them anyway. Logan had been at his aunt's for over three weeks now, and he could only think of one time when Kelly didn't spend the night with them- and that was only because Brooke was home. Though she stayed the night even if Brooke was there- they seemed to get along well.

"Looo-gannnnnnnnnn!"

"No!"

Logan heard the bell ring and a minute later, the sound of muffled shouts and somebody running up the stairs. Carlos and Kendall were here.

Logan ventured out of his room and down the impossibly long and dangerously well-decorated hallway and went through James' open door. Sure enough, the mod décor was covered completely with clothes- fancy clothes, trashy clothes, stylish clothes, exercise clothes- all way more expensive than Logan's entire wardrobe combined. And that was only a small portion of James' walk-in closet (which was larger than Logan's old room, for Christ's sake.)

James was currently speaking so fast you could barely understand what he was saying (all Logan caught was "Vuitton" and "Juicy") while Carlos desperately nodded along. Kendall sat on the king-sized bed, chuckling. He waved Logan over to him.

"Hey, you got sucked into this too, huh?" Logan asked as he cleared a pile of designer clothes away so he could sit down. Kendall snickered.

"Every time there's a party, a dance, or even just a date, it's the same. James flips, throws every single piece of clothing he owns around, calls me and Carlos to help him out, eventually rejects our input and finds an outfit for himself, then 'helps' us get dressed."

Logan laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like James."

They watched a helpless Carlos bicker with an infuriated James for a while before Logan got bored.

"Hey, they're obviously gonna be at it for a while, so do you wanna go to my room or something and find something that normal people wear?"

Kendall cracked a grin. "Sounds great, but why wouldn't normal people wear…" he picked up a discarded item from the floor. "Neon green pants with a billion chains and zippers and hot pink stitching?"

"Glad we have the same taste," Logan joked.

Kendall could feel his heartbeat pick up slightly (only slightly! He's making improvement!) as he followed Logan back to his room. Logan led him a few doors down and through a pale blue door to his room. Kendall, who had never actually been in there, walked into a well laid-out bedroom, with a medium-sized bathroom attached. It was smaller than James' room, but still fairly larger than his own. There was a computer, an open closet with a mirror on the door, and already-laden bookshelves. The room was fairly neat- all of the books seemed to be in order, the desk was clean, and there wasn't any laundry or shit on the floor. But it felt…weirdly empty. There weren't any really personal things up. No pictures, no posters or magazine spreads or decorations. No remnants of a childhood. It looked like an adult already lived there- and a boring one at that. Totally un-Logan, who Kendall knew had various obsessions with bands, book series, movies, and video-games, plus several friends he was always mentioning.

Logan walked over to the computer and smiled when he saw it. "Hey, you don't mind if I Skype my friend Camille, do you? She's been bothering me forever."

Kendall shrugged. "Be my guest."

"Logie!" Camille squealed as soon as he came onto her screen.

"Camille," he grinned ear to ear. He hadn't realized how much he had missed seeing her adorable (for a girl) face. Logan was also surprised to see a well-built, athletic guy with pale brown eyes and short dark brown hair. "Hey, Josh."

"Hey Log-ain." Josh smiled evenly while Camille practically bounced in her seat. He and Logan had always been the slightly calmer ones to make up for Camille's hyperactivity. "Who's that in the background?"

"Oh, that's Kendall." Logan gestured for him to come forward and Kendall kneeled next to the table, where he saw a pretty brunette girl and a muscular, extremely handsome guy smiling at him through the computer screen. That stupid jealousy of his flared before he could stop it. Was this Josh guy Logan's boyfriend, or something? "Hi."

Josh raised an eyebrow and Logan hastily added, before they could get the wrong idea, "He's here to help James pick all our outfits for a party tonight." But it was too late. He could already see that look in Camille's eye, and he could tell from Josh's expression that he wasn't letting this go any time soon, either. Damn that girl for being able to infect all her friends with the troublemaking spirit.

"Kendall!" Camille said, a bit too warmly. "We've heard soooo much about you!"

"Uh…have you?" Kendall raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I mean, I call Camille practically every night and tell her everything, so…" Logan gave Camille a death glare when Kendall wasn't looking. She blew him a kiss.

"You love me, darling," she teased.

"So, party, huh?" interjected Josh, displaying his uncanny ability to get rid of awkward moments. _That's why I'm friends with him,_ Logan thought, relieved. "And you're actually going?"

Kendall frowned. "Why wouldn't we?"

Josh laughed. "Logan hates parties."

"Really?" Kendall turned to Logan expectantly.

"I don't _hate _them."

"Strongly dislike." Josh said, smiling conspiratorially. "Unless you can find someone to hook up with."

_Oh, he's good, _thought Logan angrily. And that's why his friend sucked. "Or get drunk. But I'm the designated driver, so that's not gonna happen."

"Just the hooking up part, then," said Camille, catching on to Josh's stealthy ways. "Do you know if any gay guys are going to be at the party, Kendall?"

"Uh." Kendall shifted uncomfortably. He actually did, but there was no way in hell he was going to push Logan into some guy's arms. He also wasn't helped by the fact that Camille's eyes seemed like they were boring holes into him, and Josh's were creepily observant. "I, um, don't really know. There's not a lot of people in our school who are, but I'm sure Mercedes knows some people. Half the state will probably be at the party."

"Think she could introduce Logan?" Logan was going to kill his friends.

"That's not a good idea." When Camille gave him a look, Kendall felt the need to elaborate. "She's frightening. You do not want to attempt to approach her. Trust me."

Josh and Logan both seemed to find this answer acceptable, but Camille saw right through it, having used several like it in the past. She hid it well, though, and Kendall relaxed for the time being.

"Kendall, where are youuuuu!" James screamed from his room.

Kendall rolled his eyes and got up. "Okay, I'm going in. Wish me luck." Logan chuckled. Kendall waved as he walked out of the door. "Nice to meet you, Camille, Josh."

Josh waved while Camille shouted, "Bye Kendall!"

As soon as he heard Kendall walk away, Logan turned back to his computer screen. "So? What'd ya think?"

"The boy is cute." Camille had on her business face. "Gorgeous, actually, if you don't mind me saying. The eyebrows are sort of big, though."

"His eyebrows are adorable," snapped Logan, before he could stop himself. Josh looked taken aback, then smiled. Camille totally ignored him.

"He seemed cool," said Josh. "Appropriately weirded out, for meeting us." He poked Camille's arm playfully. Logan nodded. Josh was an infamously good judge of character, and he always valued his input. Except for when it came to guys- Josh always warned him about the guys he dated and he usually (stupidly) ignored it. Which was why he was glad Josh approved.

"I couldn't really get a feel for if he's gay, though," Josh continued, somewhat sadly. "I guess I need more time to form an opinion."

"He's so gay." Camille stated it as if she was one hundred percent sure. Both boys turned towards her in surprise. "Or bi, at least. The point is, he's into you. But from the looks of it, he's pretty closeted."

"And…you know this how, exactly?"

Camille shrugged. "It's sort of obvious. Well, to the trained eye. He's just a good actor."

"Terrible liar, though," Logan added conversationally.

"It should be easy to get stuff out of him, then."

"Camille, don't tell him to go interrogate Kendall or anything," warned Josh.

"I wasn't going to!" she protested.

Josh gave her a look of disbelief. "Riiiiight."

"Okay, well Logan's crazy about him, so what do you suggest we do, Josh?"

"Hey!" Logan said. "I'm not-"he stopped when they both gave him a _stop-talking-now-we-can-tell-when-you're-lying-because-we're-freaky-psychic-ninjas_ look.

"Alright, you caught me, but what do you mean 'do about it'? My life isn't some story you're writing, Camille." **(A/N: Or is it? Mwahahahaha.)**

"Yeah, we could just let it come naturally, Camille," Josh added.

"But he needs a push!"

"Since when have I ever needed a push?"

"You sort of do, Logan," said Camille, leaning forward. "You have a really easy time hitting on people you don't really have feelings for, but when it comes to guys you actually have a crush on- especially as big as the one you have on Kendall- you turn into a heaping, stuttering mess. You've always been that way."

"She's right," Josh piped up. Logan turned his glare towards him. "You always sort of let the guys come to you. Which worked with Cole and Angel and Mika, but it obviously won't in this case."

"Aw, come on!" Logan threw his hands up. "You're taking her side? What happened to bros before hos?"

"If you were here, Logan, I would slap you."

"The point is, Logan, you have to make the first move. I trust Camille's gaydar, and I know that you do too, but you know what it's like to be hiding in the closet."

"Yeah." If there was one thing Logan was sympathetic towards, it was that. He hadn't fully realized he was gay until he was thirteen, which was relatively early, but he was sort of forced out, one could say, in freshman year. He sighed, defeated. "So what do I do?"

Camille thought for a second. "Flirt, but keep it subtle. You don't want him to get embarrassed around other people. Do you guys get one-on-one time at all?"

"We're chemistry partners." Camille nodded. "Oh! And I offered to help-slash-tutor him in math class."

Josh snapped his fingers. "Perfect. You can have alone time, flirting free of your cousin and friends, and get to know him better."

"You might want to speed it up a little, too. Don't rush him, but don't take forever. He- or you- will get bored."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Camille," said Logan sarcastically.

"Any time." She smiled.

"Don't make a move at the party, either," warned Josh.

"Obviously."

"Drunken words are sober thoughts, though. Try to stick to Kendall like glue tonight. Are you giving him a ride home?"

"Yeah."

"Perfect. Get him extra drinks."

"You're telling me to get the guy I really like drunk? Are you suggesting I date-rape him, or something?"

Josh laughed. Camille shook her head.

"Logan!" James calling, yet again.

"Oh no!" Camille hissed. For whatever reason, James was slightly obsessed with Camille. She, on the other hand, hated his guts. "Go, go! Don't let him come near!"

"Enjoy your party!" called Josh as Camille quit the Skype session.

Logan sighed, leaning back in his chair and leaning his forehead on his hand. His friends were slightly crazy, but they were also often right, knew him better than anyone else, and were surprisingly well-versed in gay affairs for two straight people.

"Logan! Save me!" Logan could hear Carlos' desperate cries from the other bedroom and got up to venture into the horror that was James on a modeling binge.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Look at me, updating in a week! I'm awesome, right? Not really. **

By the time they left for the party, it was almost nine, even though Kendall and Carlos had been there since six. No one was really into that big of a party mood, either. Carlos had fought James tooth and nail about putting Cuda products in his hair, and despite the others' best efforts, Kendall still ended up in a beanie. Logan didn't really mind it, honestly. He agreed that it didn't really go with the sleek outfit the James had dressed Kendall up in, but it was so damn adorable.

When they were finally heading out the door, keys in Logan's hand, they were accosted by Kelly.

"So…party, huh?" She eyed them suspiciously and they all seemed to shrink under her gaze.

"Uh…yes?" James squeaked.

She stared them down for a minute before Carlos cracked. "Logan's the designated driver!" Kendall not-so-subtly elbowed him to shut up, but it was too late.

Kelly sighed. "I'd yell at you and make you stay home, but you're seniors now and you've been doing this for years now anyway. Besides, you would just sneak out, wouldn't you?"

Logan honestly wouldn't, because he felt like that would be ungrateful towards Brooke after everything she had done for him. But Kendall immediately nodded; he wasn't exactly the best with rules and authority.

Kelly pointed at them threateningly before they could slink away. "He are the rules: you have to be back by two, and I'm assuming Carlos and Kendall are sleeping here? And I can't fight you drinking, as long as Logan stays sober and watches out for everyone. But absolutely no pot or any sort of drug, got it? And if you have sex, and don't act like you won't James, I know you're a man-slut, make sure you have a condom, okay? And that includes you, Logan. Even if guys can't get pregnant."

James looked insulted when he called him a man-slut, but he also knew it was true and she was being way cooler than his mom would be.

"Got it, Kelly." Kendall gave her a thumbs up and they slowly started to tiptoe away.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just come in quietly, please."

Logan didn't allow himself to breathe until they were in the car and pulling out of the impossibly long driveway. "Damn, James, your mom may be scary, but Kelly is a close second," Carlos commented from the backseat.

"Ugh, I know," groaned James, leaning back in his seat. "And she's probably gonna tell my mom all about that, they tell eachother freaking everything, and then I'm gonna get an earful, again. At least you'll be joining me this time, Logan."

"How often do you guys go through this?"

Carlos shrugged. "Not too often. We usually crash at Kendall's, his mom is really cool."

They joked around and listened to the radio for the next ten minutes or so, Logan turning whenever James told him to. Finally, they pulled up to a large, fancy gate with cars pouring in and out that said "GRIFFIN".

"This is it." James pointed and Logan turned down it hesitantly. The driveway was long and filled with already drunk teens and cars pulled over. Logan found an empty seat and they got out and walked the rest of the way.

"Jesus," Logan whispered when they came in view of the house, slightly shrouded by the large trees. The house-if you could call it that- was an incredibly fancy and elaborate white mansion that was about twice the size of James' house- quite a feat. The ground was pulsing with beat of music and colorful lights were already pouring out. People were actually waiting outside- like it was some sort of club or something. Logan had stood in a few of those lines in Dallas when Camille had the urge to go clubbing- they never got in, of course.

"Yeah, it's pretty impressive, right?" asked Kendall, smirking at Logan's gaping mouth. He could think of some really fun things he could do with Logan's mouth like that…

"Are those…_bouncers_?"

"Yeah, the parties usually get pretty crazy, so her dad hired them to keep the house from being totally destroyed." James said this like it was no big deal.

"Her dad knows about these parties?"

Kendall and James simultaneously rolled their eyes. "Yeah, Arthur Griffin is a little uh-" Kendall made the universal crazy gesture- "and basically gives Mercedes whatever she wants. He buys the alcohol and pot for her and everything."

"Do the cops ever show?"

Carlos snorted. "They wouldn't dare. Not that Arthur would like, assassinate them or anything. They just know that Mercedes isn't worth the hassle. She can make your life a living nightmare all by herself."

Logan kept his cool as they passed by the seven-foot-tall bouncers standing outside the door. Luckily, they just nodded and let the guys pass through. One of them, a huge black guy, said as they walked by, "Hey, Kendall."

"Hey, Freight Train," Kendall called over his shoulder. Logan didn't bother to ask how they knew each other. He had a feeling it was a really long story and involved some sort of trouble at a past party.

The mansion seemed even bigger on the inside- if that was even possible. It was also filled to the brim with screaming, drunk, dancing teenagers.

"Drinks!" shouted Carlos, a little to excitedly as he ran towards a huge buffet table laden with beers, wine, whiskey, and basically every type of alcohol Logan could think of. He eyed it a little wistfully as Carlos dragged James in its direction.

Kendall laughed. "Let's go find some of the others." He started to make his way through the crowd and Logan grabbed his wrist so not to lose him in the semi-dark. Kendall's heart rate picked up a little bit when Logan did that, but he pretended that it didn't.

"Jo!" he shouted, waving down the blonde girl. She was sitting at one of the many couches with Dak and talking to three very pretty, immaculately dressed girls.

"Kendall, Logan!" She smiled at them and patted the seat next to her. "Logan, have you met the Jennifers?"

The three girls eyed him disdainfully. He could feel the iciness radiating off their bodies. The blonde sniffed and looked away. The curly-haired one nodded once then turned back to Jo. Only the Hispanic one acknowledged him, flashing a brief smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Kendall subtly rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper in Logan's ear, "They're total ice queens. The only person who beats them in the world-class bitch competition is Mercedes. Won't even give me the time of day." Logan felt a little chill of excitement move through his body when Kendall's lips brushed his ear.

The girls trouped off in a little formation, swinging their hips in a way that Logan guessed was supposed to seem seductive. He didn't really find it so.

Jo grabbed Logan's wrist and pulled him down on the couch next to her. "Take a seat and relax!" she shouted over the music.

"I'll be back," yelled Kendall, and he disappeared before Logan could ask where he was going. So much for sticking to Kendall like glue.

"Ugh," groaned Logan. "I really don't like parties."

"Really?" asked Dak curiously. "You must be, like, the only person in the universe."

"It's just not really that enjoyable unless you get drunk, and James forced me into being the designated driver."

As if on cue, James and Carlos came crashing over, Carlos already looking slightly tipsy with a can of beer in one hand and a bottle of tequila in the other. James had a glass filled with some colorful liquid.

"Heyyyyyy!" Carlos said a bit too loud as the DJ changed tracks. "Whazzup?"

"Oh god, are you drunk already Carlos? You're a fucking alcoholic!" Kendall had reappeared, a few beers in his arms as well. He was also tugging along Stephanie and Lucy.

"I'm not drunk!" protested Carlos, his face burning. Stephanie giggled and sat on the floor by the couch, pulling Carlos down with her. She was being awfully friendly- no doubt she'd already had a few herself, seeing as how she was never this forward with Carlos.

Kendall tossed Logan a beer and he gave him a questioning face that was so cute Kendall thought his heart might crack in two.

"You can't get wasted off of one can, can you?" he teased, nudging Logan over on the sofa. Lucy settled by his feet, a little ways away from Carlos and Stephanie, and James took a seat on the couch next to Dak.

Logan rolled his eyes and opened the beer, taking a sip of the bitter liquid. Jo and Kendall, meanwhile, practically chugged theirs.

A few hours passed and people came and went, though the main group stayed put. April, Kitten, Luis, and Jenny all approached Logan on separate occasions, Kitten looking a little apprehensive of his friends. Other people that Logan knew from his classes came up to talk to the others and so did people he didn't know. People especially liked to talk to Kendall and James- mainly girls with James, but basically everyone seemed to know Kendall. Logan also got the feeling that he was being watched, not by anyone in particular, just by people in general. And it seemed like kids that he didn't know knew him- more than a few people that he had never really seen addressed him as "Logan." He was struck by the sudden sense that he was hanging out with the popular crowd. It made sense- James was a good-looking man-whore, Kendall was the hockey captain, Jo and Stephanie gave off that pretty-girl/fashion-queen vibe, Dak was a drama star, Lucy was the untouchable rocker, and Carlos was just purely lovable.

Logan wasn't really sure how he felt about this. Back home, in Dallas, he wasn't popular- he wasn't a loser, but he wasn't the most loved person, either. Although he appreciated people being friendly to him, he didn't really like the feeling of people watching him- it felt like everything he did would just generate gossip. He wondered how many people knew he was gay by now. It wasn't like he tried to hide it, but he definitely didn't broadcast it either and he didn't think anyone he had told would just go around gossiping.

He registered that James had said his name and he turned back to see James' figure retreating with a brunette in a pretty short skirt, most likely about to get it on. Logan chuckled and hoped that James wasn't drunk enough to forget Kelly's threat.

He turned his attention back to Kendall, who was talking animatedly with Jo and some other girl he had never seen. It was weird to see Kendall so- well, so confident. He honestly didn't really see a lot of Kendall in a foreign setting. They hung out after school a lot, but Kendall was just goofy and relaxed then- something everyone was when they were with their best friends. When they passed notes in Chem, Kendall didn't seem nervous, exactly, but he definitely wasn't as confident and outgoing as he was in the party setting. Logan wondered if that was a good thing. He made a mental note to bring it up to Camille. Of course, it could just be his imagination running away with him again.

"Logie!" squealed Lucy (_Squealed? That can't be right… _Logan thought), crashing onto the couch and squeezing herself between Kendall and Logan- annoying the both of them profoundly. "So… you're gay!"

Logan gave her a weird look. "That's correct."

"I've just- I've been wondering is all-" she giggled, obviously drunk- "Are you, like, a bottom?"

Kendall spewed out his drink, making Carlos yelp and slide away. Jo cackled and Stephanie giggled as well. Dak snorted.

"Lucy!" Kendall gasped in between his coughs. "You can't ask that kind of stuff!"

"Why not?" Lucy pouted, a weird expression to see on her normally semi-angry looking face.

Kendall groaned. "You're so drunk, oh my god."

"Lighten up, Kendall," said Stephanie, winking at him. "So, Logan, are you gonna answer the question?"

Kendall leaned over Lucy to reach Logan. "They're normally not like this."

Logan laughed. "It's cool. I get it a lot, actually. You shoulda heard James when I told him I wasn't a virgin anymore."

"So you're not?" asked Carlos, attempting to wag his eyebrows in a suggestive fashion and failing miserably.

"Nope."

"Wasn't that awkward though? Talking about your sexual experiences with your cousin?" Dak asked.

Logan laughed again, louder this time. "You have no idea."

"You still haven't answered the question," prompted Jo, poking his arm.

"You guys sure you really want to have this conversation?"

"Honestly? Yeah. Weird as it sounds, I'm curious." The others nodded along as Dak spoke.

Logan snorted. "Well, I'm more of a top myself, but yeah, I've bottomed."

Lucy let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like "hot". Kendall suddenly found his bottle very interesting. He silently wished for the couch to swallow him up before his imagination went wild. His cheeks were burning up, he was sure, and he was glad for the dull lighting.

"So how many guys have you slept with? How many boyfriends?"

"Do you guys just want to know my entire romantic history?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Logan set his half-empty beer down down and started counting on his fingers. "So I've had four boyfriends, if you count the guy I dated for about three weeks when I was fourteen. I've slept with three and a half guys, blew five and have been blown by…seven? I can't remember everything."

"Wait, hold up," interrupted Carlos. "How do you sleep with three and a HALF guys?"

"I got really drunk and woke up half naked in a bed with a guy I've never seen before on top of me, but I don't really remember everything that happened, so…"

Lucy snorted. "Been there, done that."

"So how many guys have you bottomed for?" Jo asked. Logan felt like there were people listening in on their conversation now, but he didn't really care. He used to be shy about talking about his sex life, but Camille and his third boyfriend had changed that drastically for him. He honestly didn't really give a fuck what people thought of him now.

"Two. My second boyfriend, Todd, asked me to bottom for him but it didn't work out so great, so I mainly topped. And my fourth, Nate, liked to switch things up a little bit."

"Doesn't it, like, hurt?" Dak asked in a small voice.

Logan grinned at them wickedly. "You guys want me to go into a full explanation of the mechanics of gay sex?"

"N-no," Dak stuttered. Even Jo looked away shily. Only Lucy nodded.

Logan rolled his eyes. What pansies. "It hurts at first, but then it starts to feel good."

Kendall cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well." He looked at everyone except Logan. "I'm gonna go get another drink, anybody want something?"

The group immediately chorused out their requests. "Here, I'll help you, Kendall," said Logan, standing. The pair weaved their way through the crowd to the drink table.

"Sorry if I made you feel awkward back there," Logan said suddenly as he opened a bottle of vodka.

"What? No, it's fine," Kendall rushed out, feeling more than a little flustered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah…it's just…" Kendall hesitated to ask the question but then figured if anyone wouldn't judge, it was Logan. "How did you know?"

"That I was gay?"

"Yeah. Like, I don't know…was it just a sudden realization, or whatever?"

Logan shrugged. "Sort of. It came on slowly. I guess it started around fifth or sixth grade, when other guys were getting girlfriends or looking up pictures of naked women, but I didn't really get it. I can see how a woman could be considered beautiful or whatever- besides their vaginas- but I just wasn't into it. Then, when I was around twelve or thirteen, I started to realize I was looking at guys that way. I think I was in the eighth grade when I sort of just- came to the conclusion that I must be gay. It freaked me out a lot, to be honest. I thought being gay meant I had to wear rainbow flags and act flamboyant and that I was never allowed near a church again. But when I sort of sat myself down and thought about it, I realized I was still the same person, I just was interested in boob-less people, that's all. It helped when I finally told someone, kind of made me come to terms with it. After that, I was fine."

They gathered up the others' drinks and carried them back to the couch. "So did you ever get any crap? Like at school?" Kendall asked.

"A little. Texas isn't the most liberal state, obviously, but Dallas is a big city and my school was humongous."

"How big was it?"

"A few thousand people."

Dak whistled.

"That's not really that big. But it was big enough that not everyone knew who I was, so it wasn't like the whole student body hated me or anything."

"Were there other gay and bi kids?"

"Yeah, we sort of tended to band together a little bit, to be honest. But they weren't my only friends. I knew plenty of kids who didn't care if I was gay, or just didn't know. Sometimes the super religious kids would give me crap about saving me or whatever, and there were some homophobes, but it wasn't like excessive. No one ever killed themselves because of bullying or anything. I got my locker trashed once though."

Jo made a noise of disapproval in the back of her throat. Kendall seemed lost in thought as he took a sip from his cocktail so Logan decided not to bother him. Maybe he was concerned about what would happen if he came out? That is, if he was gay, which Logan didn't know for sure.

The night wore on and the group got progressively more and more drunk, leaving Logan to clean up their messes. Finally, at around one, he decided maybe it was best to leave now- that is, if he could track James and Carlos down. Kendall, Lucy, and some guy known only as "Guitar Dude" were taking over the couch. Guitar Dude stank of pot and Lucy and Kendall were both cackling over something supposedly hilarious that he had said.

Just as Logan was getting up, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to see tall girl with wavy blonde hair staring him down in the most frightening manner possible. He could practically feel the hostile radiating through his body. This could only be Mercedes.

"Who are you, and why exactly are you at my party." It wasn't really a question.

"Um, I'm Logan. I came with James?" Out of all the vaginas that Logan had (unfortunately) ever encountered, this one had to be the most frightening, and he hadn't even seen it.

"James Diamond? How do you know him?"

"I'm, uh, his cousin. I just moved here."

"Really." She eyed him up and down for a second. "You're cute. I could use a new boyfriend."

Logan didn't really know what to say to that. Luckily, Kendall said it for him. "'Cedes!" He tugged on her hand and said in a loud stage whisper, "You can't take him. He's gaaaaaaaaaay."

Mercedes looked back up at Logan suspiciously and he nodded profusely. "Oh well then. I already have a gay best friend, unfortunately. But you can stay." Logan only squeaked in response as she spun on her heel and strutted away.

"Logannnn?" whined Kendall, a way too adorable pout adorning his face. "Can we go now? Pleeeease? I'm tired."

"Yeah, yeah, I just have to find James and Carlos, okay? Stay right here. Lucy, do you have a ride home?"

"I'm g'na stay here," she mumbled sleepily, resting her head on Guitar Dude's head.

"I got her, man. You go find the other dudes."

Logan ventured through the party and went up the stairs. If he found James, it would undoubtedly be in one of the many bedrooms. Sure enough, in the fourth one he checked (after inadvertently walking in on several couples) was a shirtless James making out with some girl. In the bed next to them was another girl, already asleep. It took Logan five minutes to convince James to get dressed and come downstairs with him. It turned out, the trick was to invoke his mother's name.

Logan led James through the busy halls and staircase and nearly had to punch a guy in order to get through. Finally, they got to the couch and saw Kendall already half asleep. "Can you take him out to the car?" asked Logan. James was relatively un-drunk, just horny. He nodded and went to grab Kendall's arms.

It took Logan another ten minutes of asking around to track down Carlos. He passed through a relatively empty hall and stumbled in on the surprising sight of Jo making out passionately with Dak. They didn't notice as he passed by. He smirked. Jo seemed to have gotten over him relatively fast. Not that he had a problem with that.

Carlos, it turned out, was attempting to climb one of the pillars in the miniature ballroom so he could swing from one of the many chandeliers. Stephanie, also relatively sober, was desperately trying to talk him out of it. Seeing as how reason wasn't working to well, Logan resorted to physically dragging him down, which took another ten minutes and more than a few bruises. When Carlos finally let go, he fell to the ground, giggling incessantly.

Logan looked down at Carlos apprehensively. "You sure this is the guy you're head over heels for?" he addressed Stephanie. She looked alarmed, but then realized that Carlos probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning anyway.

She sighed. "He gets so crazy when he's drunk. Did you see him dancing earlier?"

"Unfortunately."

She shook her head. "I must be out of my mind."

"So…no action tonight?"

"Not tonight. Maybe next time."

"Do you need a ride home?"

"Nah, I can drive. Besides, I took Jo and Dak here. Have you seen them?"

"Yeah, playing tonsil hockey in the hallway between here and the dining room."

"Really. That's an interesting development."

"You're telling me."

It took a good fifteen minutes for Logan to drag Carlos out of the party and all the way down to the car. By the time they got there, Kendall was already fast asleep in the backseat and James was drinking from the bottle of water Logan had the foresight to put in the car. Before he could push Carlos into the backseat, he keeled over and began vomiting on the expansive lawn. Logan stepped back so not to get any on his shoes, then waited until Carlos was done before helping him into the car and buckling him in. James handed him the bottle of water from the front seat. "You better not get any vomit in my car, Carlos," he mumbled. Carlos muttered something unintelligible back.

When they finally left, it was nearly one-forty-five and Logan knew they were cutting it close. He had to speed a bit to get them back in time, but they made it, bursting in the door as quietly as possible at exactly one-fifty-eight. Logan dragged Carlos to the couch and laid him down on his side, placing a trash can next to his face. James was awake enough to drag himself up the stairs and into bed. Logan went back to get Kendall, but found him lying on the stairs, looking up at the ceiling and tracing imaginary circles on to it.

"Hey, Logie," he giggled, a little bit too loudly for two in the morning.

"Hey, Kenny." The nickname left little flip-flops in his stomach. "Let's take you upstairs, all right?"

He placed Kendall in one of the guest beds- as far away from Kelly's room as possible, and laid him on his side as well. He felt obligated to help Kendall into some pajamas, or at least out of his clothes, but hesitated for two reasons- one, guys could occasionally be uncomfortable when Logan did that. And two, he was pretty sure he would have a heart attack if he saw Kendall shirtless. Luckily, Kendall solved that problem for him by sleepily sliding off his beanie and unbuttoning his own shirt. Sure enough, just the sight of Kendall's lightly defined abs and pecs made Logan's breath hitch. He also had to fight the overwhelming desire to touch.

Kendall opened his eyes and looked up at Logan, giggling again. "Logie Loges." He reached out, intending to pat Logan's head, but instead only getting his face. He laughed. Logan looked so adorable. He took his beanie and placed it on Logan's head. "You look so cute!" He had a faint feeling that he shouldn't be saying that, but he was too drunk to register why.

Logan snickered. "Really."

Kendall sighed and closed his eyes, rolling onto his stomach and struggling to get his shirt all the way off. Logan helped him. "You always look cute," he mumbled drunkenly. Logan was silent then and Kendall drifted off to sleep. Logan watched him for a minute, memorizing how his face looked when relaxed and in dreamland, before he decided it was getting creepy and got up to go to bed himself. He shut the door behind him as quietly as possible and went to his own room, quickly peeling off his clothes and getting into pajamas. He took off Kendall's beanie and inspected it before he turned off the light.

Yes, he thought, Camille had definitely been right about Kendall. Though he hated to let false hope in, Kendall definitely had something going on in his life- not every guy would call another guy cute. Now, the question was, how would he get Kendall to admit it?

The beanie smelled just like Kendall, he realized. He fell asleep sniffing it. That night, he dreamt of Kendall, and though it wasn't for the first time, it was the first time he dreamt of holding Kendall's hand while they walked on the beach, talking and laughing and both wearing beanies as the sun set.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I am so, so, so, so incredibly sorry it took me so long to update this. I swear I didn't think it would take this long, but I had major writer's block. I also know you must be getting frustrated with this story, and how stupidly slow it's moving, but I got a lot I needed to do out of the way in this chapter and before you know it you will have Kogan. Again, I'm really, really sorry. :'( forgive me? Please?**

Kendall groaned as the sunlight hit his eyes. He pulled the sheets over his head farther in attempt to preserve the darkness, but had no luck. With another groan, he sat up in bed and took in his surroundings. He was in one of the many guest bedrooms in James' mansion, from the look of the décor. He was also only wearing his jeans, his head was pounding, he sort of felt like throwing up, and of course, his mouth tasted faintly of alcohol. In other words, a typical hangover.

Kendall went through the night in his head and remembered a decent part of it, up until they got in the car to head home. He assumed either Logan or James had helped him to bed, because Carlos was surely in no state to do it and he probably couldn't make it up the stairs alone. Though part of him hoped it had been Logan who had done it, a larger part feared that. No doubt he had made a fool of himself. He just prayed that he didn't say anything that he shouldn't have. Nothing was worth saying anyway.

Sighing, he heaved himself out of bed and went to the nearest bathroom to pee. Kendall saw his face in the mirror and flinched at the huge purple bags underneath his eyes. He rinsed his face with cold water and half-heartedly tried to fix his bedhead before downing five aspirins.

After dressing himself, he headed downstairs while buttoning his shirt back up. He was slightly dismayed to see his beanie was missing, but it wasn't like that was the only one he had and it wasn't like you could just show up at Mercedes Griffin's whenever you wanted for your missing crap, so he cut his losses.

Kendall heard the sizzling of bacon and went into the kitchen to see Kelly and Logan. Sure enough, Kelly was peeling off strips of bacon and putting them into a frying pan while Logan worked on the scrambled eggs. He cleared his throat and they both looked up.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" said Kelly cheerfully. "You're up just in time for breakfast."

"Please, not so loud," he moaned, sitting at the island counter.

"I can make you something for that," said Logan, getting out a glass and turning around to the fridge. Kelly whapped him on the head.

"You're not giving him alcohol this early in the morning!"

"I wasn't going to! There are other hangover remedies, you know."

"What time is it, anyway?" asked Kendall. He searched himself for his phone and found it in his back pocket.

"It's a little after nine," answered Logan. "You woke up pretty early."

"What time did we get in?"

"Two minutes before curfew."

"You guys did a pretty good job," noted Kelly. "You didn't wake me up."

"Yeah, well, Carlos basically passed out and James wasn't drunk enough to be loud. I had to keep you quiet, Kendall."

"Sorry. Did you take me up to bed?"

"Yeah." Logan paused. "Is that okay?"

Kendall gave him a strange look. "Why wouldn't it be?"

He shrugged in response.

"Where's Carlos?"

"Asleep on the living room couch."

Logan turned around and handed him a disgusting looking mixture in a glass, but Kendall didn't ask any questions and downed it quickly. They ate their bacon and eggs in silence, mainly because they were both ravenous.

"Oh, by the way, I have your beanie," Logan mentioned as he put his dishes in the dishwasher. "You put it on my head last night."

"Did I?" Kendall didn't remember that.

"Do you want it back? I left it upstairs."

Normally, Kendall didn't like giving away his beanies (or his bracelets), but in this case he couldn't help but like the idea of Logan owning something of his. He also thought that Logan must look insanely cute in it- but he thrust that thought into the dark corner of his brain. "Um, no, it's okay, you can keep it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I have plenty, don't worry about it." Kendall thought he saw Kelly give him a sort of funny look out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't say anything and neither did she.

James wandered in then, saying rather loudly, "I smell bacon!" and making Kendall cringe once again.

"Jaaaaaa-aaaames," he whined.

"Keeeeeenn-ddaaaaaall," James mimicked back. "That's what you get for getting wasted."

"You drank too."

"Not like you did."

Logan chuckled. "Yeah, well, neither of you drank nearly as much as Carlos. And Lucy. And possibly Jo and Dak."

"Carlos always drinks a lot."

"I remember Lucy being pretty drunk," admitted Kendall. "And we… oh god, they all asked you awkward questions."

James groaned. "Thank god I missed that. _Never again._"

"Hey, you asked for it," teased Logan.

"But I don't remember Jo and Dak being that drunk. What happened?" Kendall asked curiously.

Logan smirked. "I don't really know _how _much they drank, but I know they had to be pretty drunk to make out in a hallway like that."

James instantly cracked up. "No way! Jo and Dak? This is too good!"

Kendall was shocked. "Jo and DAK? Are you sure, Logan?"

"I saw them."

James just laughed harder. "Jealous, Kendall?"

"No! Just…surprised, is all."

"Why would Kendall be jealous?"

"He and Jo dated, like, all last year."

"Really? I didn't know that." Logan suddenly felt a whole lot more hostile towards Jo than he had since he met her. "You guys don't act like it."

"It was a mutual break up. We decided to be friends."

James had stopped laughing and now looked thoughtful. "Can't say I didn't see it coming, though. Jo's into the popular guys, it makes sense that after you she would hook up with Jett, then Dak. Wonder when she'll move on to me." Logan let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like _never._

Kendall, meanwhile, nearly spewed out his orange juice. "JETT? WHAT? Jett Stetson? SHE HOOKED UP WITH JETT STETSON?"

"You never heard?"

"NO. WHAT. NO."

"Who's Jett?"

"Oh, no one, just my SWORN ENEMY THAT'S ALL!" Kendall was freaking out, for lack of better term.

James explained more clearly. "He's one of the most popular guys in school, and also a completely self-centered jackass. He's sort of a player. He and Kendall have a mutual hatred going on, partially 'cause he always wanted Jo when she was with Kendall, and partially a competitive thing. Plus Kendall just hates how full of himself he is."

Logan thought for a second. "So in other words…he's you."

Kendall laughed while James shouted, "Hey!"

"Nah, Jett's way worse than James. James at least has a heart. And a brain," said Kendall. Then he looked pained. "How could Jo hook up with Jett?"

"I don't know, ask Jo," said James irritably. "It was only a one night stand, over the summer."

"Did she get tested for STD's afterwards?"

"Man, you're really upset about this. Sure you're not jealous? You shouldn't be, you hooked up Christy over the summer, after all."

"I'm not jealous!" cried Kendall, and he really wasn't. He _had_ hooked up with Christy over the summer, though that hadn't been something he completely enjoyed. But he was long over Jo. "I just don't understand how she could go for him. My nemesis! Even as just a friend, that's betrayal. Besides, he isn't even that hot!"

James raised an eyebrow but, thank god, Logan came to the rescue. "You should let me be the judge of that."

"We'll point him out at school for you tomorrow."

It took a good half an hour to roll Carlos out of bed, and only the promise of pancakes and waffles did that. Of course, there was a major setback when Carlos discovered that there weren't actually any pancakes and waffles, and it eventually took the combined effort of the other three to drag him out to James' car.

Kendall was getting in the front seat when Logan suddenly asked, "Oh, by the way, when did you want to do the tutoring thingy?"

Kendall thought for a second, not wanting to seem too eager. "Well… I don't know. I work on Sundays and after school sometimes at Sherwood's, but that's sort of irregular. And hockey season is starting soon, so… I guess on Saturdays? Or whenever you have the time to do it…"

"I can do it whenever you want to," reassured Logan.

"Well…okay. I'll talk to you later, I guess."

"What are you guys doing out there?" called James from the driver seat. "We have to go!"

Kendall rolled his eyes and got in the car. "Doing okay, buddy?" he teased Carlos, who was moping in the back seat with his arms crossed.

"Don't talk to me," he mumbled sourly.

Logan went back into the house while James pulled the car out of the driveway. "What were you and Loges talking about?" asked James.

Kendall shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "Just deciding when he's going to tutor me."

"Logan's tutoring you?" James raised an eyebrow.

"In math. I really need the help," Kendall grimaced.

"I could, too," Carlos piped up from the back seat. "But I'm too mad at all of you to ask."

"You're such a child." Kendall and James laughed.

…..

The week passed with little happening, the only exception being Jo confirming that she hooked up with Jett over the summer (much to Kendall's displeasure/horror/disgust). She and Dak also refused to talk about what had happened at the party and pretended as if they barely knew each other, even though Stephanie said as she took them home they were still making out. Considering Jo's judo training, however, the group decided to back off from asking questions for a while after she gave Carlos a particularly murderous glare.

Friday morning, Kendall was coming out of the gym when he was stopped by Coach Rocque, the hockey coach who Kendall had a love/hate relationship with. It was common knowledge that Kendall was the best hockey player in the school, the county and maybe even the state, but Gustavo Rocque was the sort of man who didn't care about how good you did or how hard you worked- he still kept screaming at you. He had the habit of referring to his hockey players as "dogs", and Kendall's attitude problems made him hate the "lead dog" all the more, but Kendall was also his crowning glory, so they put up with one another. This year, Kendall was captain of the varsity team and hopefully they would be able to make it to the Championships.

"Dog," Rocque acknowledged, not looking up from his clipboard at Kendall.

"Gustavo!" One of the reasons the coach hated Kendall was his annoying (and sort of disrespectful) tendency to call Gustavo by his first name. Hey, if Gustavo wouldn't respect him, why should he respect him back?

"I'm holding tryouts next week, after school on Tuesday. Can you make it?"

Kendall mentally checked his work schedule. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Any ideas?"

"Mostly the guys from last year, I guess. But there's sure to be some sophomores and freshmen, and I know one senior guy who's trying out."

Gustavo snorted. "Really? Who?"

"The new guy, Logan Mitchell."

"Don't know him."

"Of course you don't, he's new. Anyway, I'll meet you at the rink, two-thirty?"

Gustavo didn't answer and walked off, so Kendall figured that was a "yes" and went on his way.

Later on in the day, Kendall slid into his seat next to Logan in the Chem lab. "I have work after school today, so you don't have to pick me up."

"Got it." Logan was busy prepping for yet another experiment. "Where do you work, again?"

Kendall sighed heavily. "Sherwood's, the grocery store. Mainly I just collect carts and stock the shelves, but sometimes I get really lucky and do clean up duty, yay!"

Logan laughed. "Livin' the big life, huh?"

"And you should see the aprons they give us."

Logan snorted. "I'll have to drop by and take your picture." _I bet you look adorable in your apron._

Kendall chuckled. "Good luck, I'll be hiding. By the way, hockey tryouts are after school on Tuesday. Just show up at the rink with your gear, we'll help you out."

"Cool."

There was a moment of silence before Kendall blurted out, "Are you still coming to my house Saturday?"

Logan raised an eyebrow. _Is that a good sign, or bad? _ "Uh…yeah, if you want me to. What time?"

Kendall really hoped that he didn't seem desperate now. Of course, he was, but Logan needn't know that, and he never would. "I guess… whenever, really. Maybe if you come at like one, we'll get a few hours in before I get bored and tired."

Logan snickered. "I think that'll happen either way, but all right. Hey, when I come you'll be the first person to see my new car, outside of James, Kelly and Aunt Brooke."

"You're finally getting it, huh?"

"Yeah, you know there's no talking Brooke out of something once she's set her mind to it. We went last week, but we're buying it today."

"Awesome. Whatcha getting'?"

"A red Mustang."

Kendall whistled. "Nice. Must be convenient having Brooke as a relative, huh?" When Logan gave him a look as if to say, _What are you implying?_ he hastily back-tracked. "I mean, she was always buying expensive shit for me and Carlos, imagine what it's like for you. I'm used to James living in a mansion, but I can't imagine doing it myself. You weren't raised that way, were you?"

"As if. I had a nice and normal house and family, thank you very much." This was partially a lie, at least in Logan's eyes, but he didn't feel like explaining more clearly, at all, ever.

Kendall once again wondered about Logan's parents, and why he came from Dallas by himself, but he figured that chemistry class wasn't exactly the place to go into it, and Logan never brought it up himself so perhaps it was better left alone.

For the rest of the class, the pair would chat while doing the work assigned and occasionally pay attention to Mr. McIntyre, but every once in a while Kendall would sneak glances at Logan before cursing himself and turning back to whatever he was doing. What Kendall didn't know was that not only was Logan returning these glances, but he noticed Kendall's, too.

_Oh, yeah. Camille is definitely gonna hear about this._

…..

Saturday morning, Kendall woke up with a start at around 7 o'clock- way too early to be thinking, let alone getting up. He usually woke up on Saturdays at around eleven or twelve, so he wondered why he was awake after only about four hours of sleep- and why he had an unusual pit in his stomach. Then, he remember Logan was coming by today.

"Shit," he mumbled under his breath, getting up as quietly as possible to go to the small bathroom down the hall. Why did Logan have such an effect on him? It was incredibly frustrating, annoying, and complicated things to no end. He had gotten through the majority of his high school career without being confronted with this sort of problem. He had really been intending to get through his whole life without this sort of problem. So far, it hadn't been that hard.

But stupid motherfucking Logan fucking Mitchell had to fucking come along with his fucking crooked smile and his fucking husky voice and his fucking sexy body and his fucking brown eyes and fucking ruin everything for Kendall.

_Why am I so fucking stupid?_

Kendall wasted a lot of the morning attempting to organize his extremely messy room before finally giving up and pushing most of his shit under his bed. He told himself that it wasn't to impress Logan, it really wasn't, Logan was just a neat freak so he was trying to be nice and make him more comfortable. _Bullshit,_ that little voice in the dark corner of his head called, but he blocked out and went downstairs for breakfast.

"Morning, Mom," he mumbled as he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Pancakes?"

Katie's mouth popped open and she covered it in fake shock. "Oh my god! It lives!"

"Shut up."

"Seriously, you're up before ten! What on earth did we do to deserve the honor of you eating breakfast with us?"

"Ha ha, very funny. Can I have some food, please?"

"Sure, honey."

Katie continued to make fun of him while he ate in silence, until Kendall's mom finally pointed out: "You laugh now, honey, but in less than two years' time you'll be exactly the same. All teenagers act that way, especially Knight teenagers."

Katie made a horrified face and Kendall laughed. "At least by then, you'll be long gone," Katie griped. Kendall affectionately ruffled her hair while he got up to wash his dishes.

"You know you'll miss me, Baby Sister."

"In your dreams, Big Brother."

"Oh by the way, Mom," Kendall mentioned in the most offhand manner he could manage, "I'm having a friend over later. Well, tutor, actually."

Mrs. Knight raised an eyebrow. "Tutor? For what?"

"Math. I barely made it by last year and I can't afford to fail this class."

She smiled and patted his arm. "It's nice to see you're taking responsibility and putting your all into academics." _Or,_ Kendall thought miserably, _you could just be using it as a poor excuse to hang out with-_

She continued before he could finish the thought. "Are you paying for it?"

"Nah, my friend agreed to do it for free."

"I bet it's a hot chick," Katie interrupted, smirking. "And that's why you got up so early."

_You're only half right, Baby Sister. _"No," he defended himself. "It's James' cousin, Logan."

"The one I've heard so much about but never met?"

"Well, you'll meet him today, Mom."

"Logan is good at math?" Katie asked in a surprised voice. She saw Logan practically every day now as well, seeing as he and James always gave them a ride home.

"I know, right? I was surprised too. But he's like a genius, apparently. Except for in English."

"Huh." She went back to her almost-done pancakes. "I guess you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

…..

Logan woke up fairly early himself that morning, and spent most of it on deciding what to wear to appear casual, but not like he just rolled out of bed, and how exactly he was going to tutor Kendall. He helped some of his friends out in math and science back in Dallas, but it wasn't like he was paid to do so or anything.

At around noon, not long before he was supposed to be heading to Kendall's, he had a minor panic attack and called up Camille for a last minute pep talk.

"So the best option would be to just flirt and mess around a lot, but you can't really do that since you're supposed to be teaching him math," she said thoughtfully over the phone. "Oh, I know! You could 'accidentally' spill water all over your shirt in his room, and have to change with him in the room and then refuse to give back his clothes. I've done that before. Ooh, you should totally wear one of those nice, tight white t-shirts you have! It'll cling to you when you get wet. Are you already wearing one?"

"Camille!"

"You could at least try not to make math boring. Though you could always entertain him by putting on a striptease, yum."

That obviously wasn't working, so he hung up and called Josh instead.

"I don't know what to tell you other than be yourself," he advised. "I know it sounds cliché or whatever, but that's the best way for Kendall to get to know you better- and like you. And you can be touchy or jokey or whatever to flirt with him, but don't go overboard the first time. Get a feel for him. There may be a reason why he's in the closet."

Logan sighed. "Okay. Okay. Just- be myself, flirt but not too much, get to know him. And teach him math. Got it."

"You'll do fine, Logan. You're a charming guy. He obviously already likes you, at least as a friend, so relax and don't worry."

"I'm just not used to being the one doing the chasing, I guess."

"But it'll be worth all of the anxiety and insecurity if you get Kendall in the end. Besides, he already thinks you're cute, doesn't he?"

Logan felt a million times better after that conversation- one of the reasons Josh was his best friend- but his nerves reemerged as he was driving to Kendall's house. He pulled up in the short driveway, which had seen many times but never actually been in. He was shutting the car door and locking it just as Kendall came practically sprinting out of the house, Katie in tow.

"Awesome!" Kendall shouted at the top of his lungs, not caring how he appeared at the moment, even to Logan. "Damn, I wish I had a car, but I REALLY wish I had this car." He stroked the hood almost as if he was afraid to touch it.

Katie, meanwhile, was looking at her watch. "One o'clock on the dot, Logan. I'm impressed."

Logan shrugged, shyly grinning and making Kendall's heart start to race. "I'm a punctual guy." He locked the car and turned towards the house, where a pretty, petite middle-aged woman with bright auburn hair was standing in the doorway. "Is that your mom?"

"Yeah," Kendall answered, not looking up from the Mustang.

Katie rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Kendall, you can drool over Logan's stupid car later," she said, dragging him away.

"Hi, Mrs. Knight," Logan greeted, sticking out his hand. "I'm Logan."

Mrs. Knight smiled warmly and shook his hand. "So polite. Maybe you can teach my kids a few manners."

Logan laughed. "That's what Aunt Brooke thought about me and James, but so far, no such luck."

"Well, mine are fast learners," she answered brightly, pinching Kendall and Katie's cheeks in the most embarrassing manner possible.

"Moooooom," they simultaneously groaned.

"My babies," she crooned, making them squirm.

"Okay!" Kendall shouted. "That's quite enough mom time. Come on, Logan, let's go to my room." He tugged on Logan's wrist and pulled him inside the house. Logan waved back at Katie and Mrs. Knight as Kendall took him up the stairs.

As soon as they were in Kendall's bedroom, he shut the door behind him and swiftly locked it, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank god," he moaned. "She's so embarrassing, oh my god."

Logan laughed, sitting down on Kendall's (hastily made) bed. "I like her, she's just joking. It's cute. Besides, you should see my mom." He immediately regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. But because he appeared to be an angel sent from the heavens, Kendall didn't ask about her, sensing Logan didn't want him to.

Kendall scratched his head and looked around the room. "Sorry it's such as mess," he said awkwardly. Even after the rushed cleaning job this morning, it was still a wreck compared to Logan's room. "I'm, uh, sort of a disorganized person."

Logan just laughed. "I know, I've noticed your locker. And book bag." When Kendall just continued to stand there, he sat back on the bed against the headboard, kicking off his shoes, and patted the space next to him. "Come on, I won't bite," he grinned, and Kendall blushed. _Oh god, was that too forward?_ Logan tried to cover it up quickly by saying, "It'll be easier to teach you if we're next to each other."

"Of course," Kendall muttered, grabbing his math stuff and sitting on the double bed next to Logan. It was big enough that they weren't touching, but were still in pretty close quarters. "So, um, where do we start?"

"You tell me. What do you need the most help with?"

"Everything."

Logan giggled. "Okay then. How about you…take this chapter quiz and we'll see how far along you are."

Kendall sighed, then nodded and got to work. While he was writing, Logan amused himself by looking around the room. It was a pretty standard teenage boy's room, but still something about it was just so… Kendall.

It was about the size of Logan's room back in Dallas, and had dark-ish green walls and dark wood floors. The wall with the door had a small-ish desk pushed up against it with a computer (a few years old, from the looks of it), and one lonely bookshelf that was slightly overstuffed. The wall opposite the door held two windows looking out into the backyard, an overflowing hamper, a couple of guitars and an amp, and in the far corner a box with a label that said _Old Shit_ in Kendall's handwriting. Peeking out of the top was a small stuffed monkey. Mostly likely it was filled with old stuffed animals and action figures.

The wall with the bed had the headboard of the bed pushed up against it, the end facing outwards, and on one side was Kendall's cluttered dresser. The other side had a mysterious small pile of blankets. Opposite that wall as a small shelf holding an old-ish TV and small DVD player, along with an iPod station plugged in on the floor, a closet door, and a pile of hockey gear. Strewn throughout the room were various DVDs, CDs, clothes, papers, and books, and most of the walls were adorned with posters of movies and bands. On a small wall shelf mounted on the wall above Kendall's bed were what appeared to be his most treasured possessions- a bunch of hockey trophies, a fancy wristwatch on a stand, and a few picture frames of Kendall with his mom, his sister, his friends, and somebody who Logan was guessing was his dad, even though they didn't look too much alike.

"Okay, finished," Kendall announced, interrupting Logan's train of thought.

Kendall fiddled with his pencil nervously while Logan checked his answers. He had been trying to focus on the math while he was doing it, but it was hard when Logan was right next to him, especially as Logan kept looking around his room. He hoped Logan didn't think he was a slob, or a loser for keeping stuffed animals and trophies and corny pictures.

"What're the blankets for?" Logan asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Wha-" Kendall saw Logan pointing to the small pile at the side of his bed. "Oh, that's for Mila, my cat."

"You have a cat?"

"Yeah. We used to have two, but Elmo died last year."

"I'm sorry."

Kendall shrugged. "He was old. I guess you can tell from his name, but we got him when I was three."

Logan couldn't hide his smile, because damn, Kendall was so adorable, even when he was little. "So you named him after Elmo."

"Yup."

"So why haven't I seen your cat?"

"Well, Mila's very fat, and sort of old, too, and she's afraid of strangers. The blankets are there because she likes being with me, but she can't get up on the bed and once she does, she likes to sleep on my face, which basically suffocates me." Logan laughed.

"I've never had a cat. Always wanted one, but never did. They seem so much more low maintenance than dogs."

"They are," Kendall agreed. "Me and Katie wouldn't be that great with watching over a dog. Too much work. I've always wanted a pig, though."

Logan burst out laughing. "But that would be so much more work than a dog!"

"But they're so cute!" Kendall whined. "My mom won't let me get one, but someday I will. Just you watch."

"Whatever you say, Ken-daull." Logan was laughing so hard that he barely noticed his slight Texan accent taking over as he drawled out the last syllable of Kendall's name.

Kendall raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you just call me Ken-_doll_?"

"Oops," Logan giggled. "Sorry. But you've gotta admit, it's fitting."

"How so?"

"Well… I don't know. It just is. You're blonde?"

Kendall crossed his arms. "That's pathetic. Technically, I'm strawberry blonde."

"Ken could be a strawberry blonde. But I'm gonna call you that from now on. _Ken-doll_."

Kendall stuck out his tongue. "Meanie. Then I'm gonna call you… Logie."

"Real original."

"Logie… Logie… Ooh! I got it! Logie-bear! Ha, so there."

"Logie-bear? Like Yogi Bear?"

"You got it."

Logan laughed and playfully punched Kendall's arm. Remembering Josh's warning about not laying it on too thick, however, he said almost sadly, "We really need to keep studying."

Kendall sighed overdramatically. "Damn. Thought I had you fooled."

"Nice try." Logan grinned.

He looked over Kendall's work and was amazed to see that, wow, Kendall really did suck at math. Like, really. Like, really really really he's-lucky-I'm-helping-him-for-free bad.

"You got every answer wrong," he informed Kendall as nicely as possible.

"Fuck it! I told you I'm horrible at math."

"You were right."

They spent the next three hours or so going over the basics of algebra, much to Kendall's displeasure, and they had barely cracked the beginning of the Statistics textbook when Logan said, "Shit, I gotta get home."

Kendall looked at his alarm clock on the dresser. "It's only four-thirty."

"Yeah, but James and I were planning on going to the rink for some practice, and then Kelly's gonna have dinner on the table at six-thirty, 'cause Brooke's gonna be home tonight."

Kendall deflated slightly, but did his best to hide it. "Oh, okay then. Have fun."

"Plus, I have to call Camille at eight."

Kendall chortled. "Man, that girl has you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?"

Logan shook his head. "If you had ever been slapped by her, you would understand."

Logan packed up his stuff and Kendall walked him down to the door.

"Bye, Mrs. Knight," he called as they passed by the living room, where she and Katie were watching a DVD. "See ya on Monday, Katie."

"See ya, Logan."

"By, Logan! It was nice meeting you!"

"Quick, go before she can embarrass me any further!" Kendall whispered, pushing Logan along.

Logan smiled as he walked out the door. "You're so weird, Kendall." He said it affectionately, though, so Kendall didn't worry too much about it.

"See you in Chem?"

"You got it."

Kendall waited until Logan was in the car and backing down the driveway before he came inside and shut the door behind him.

"What's for dinner, Mom?" he asked, wandering into the living room and plopping down on the couch with them.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Is there ever a time you're not thinking about food?"

"Occasionally." Mila, their large, tubby gray tabby cat came over and meowed at his feet. He sighed, but picked her up and put her in his lap anyway.

"Logan seems nice," commented Mrs. Knight. "Very friendly and polite. Is he the one that's living with Brooke?"

"Yeah."

"He lives with them? With his parents?" Katie asked, suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation.

"No… not with his parents…"

"Why not?"

Kendall shrugged. "Don't know. He doesn't really mention it."

"Have you asked?"

"I try not to. I mean… he gets a little uncomfortable whenever somebody brings it up."

"Oh, poor dear. Maybe his parents died?" Kendall's mom said.

"I don't think that's it. Except…maybe…I don't know." Kendall's brow furrowed.

Katie shrugged, turning back to the TV. "Well if you ever find out, tell me."

"_If" being the key term, Baby Sister._

**Again, I am so so so SOOO sorry about taking so long. Really I am.**

**I know I don't deserve them, but reviews really make my day. :D and I appreciate all of you that have review or alerted this story, it really means a lot to me. I don't thank you enough.**

**Random Funny Note: So the other day I was watching Victorious, the episode where Tori's ex is dating Cat. And in the beginning, they mention that Tori's old school is named SHERWOOD. And I was like, whaaaaat? Because being the BTR nerd that I am, I know that's the name of the grocery store Kendall worked at in the pilot (and in my story), so I was wondering, who is this Sherwood guy? It's obviously some Nick writer or exec or something who helped out with a lot of these shows, so they name random shit after him. Either that, or they just suck at coming up with original names.**

**Is this like an old thing? Am I out of the loop with this one? WHO IS SHERWOOD?**


	8. Chapter 8

**This is sort of a filler chapter, sorry. But a lot (hint, hint) will change in the next chapter. I'm skipping a month or so. This is the last (I swear!) part of my insanely boring, long set up.**

The next Tuesday morning, both Kendall and Logan were nervous wrecks, but for two very different reasons. Kendall, because he had a math quiz coming up that he had completely forgotten about, and Logan, because today was the hockey tryouts.

Logan knew he shouldn't be too worried. It was natural to have a little nerves, but James had assured him that he would make the team- Logan was a pretty good player, especially in left and right wing, which was apparently what they needed. However, he couldn't help but be concerned for what would happen when the other guys on the team found out he was gay. James had said that he, Carlos, and Kendall would have Logan's back, but he had also said that there might be some assholes to watch out for. Not that Logan hadn't dealt with it before. He just didn't want to cause any problems, and besides, it wouldn't kill people to be accepting, would it?

Kendall couldn't believe that he had completely blanked on this quiz. It wasn't a huge one, but he was sure to have trouble with it. Even though it was still (barely) September, he was already way behind. After remembering the night before in a panic, he considered calling Logan for a last minute talk-through, but then he figured that was going a bit too far, especially when he was trying to distance himself from Logan (which was proving to be extremely difficult with every passing day). He just tried his best and hoped that Logan's tutoring would stick with him enough to get through with at least a D.

Of course, after Stat was over, he realized the likeliness of that was extremely low, because honestly, he hadn't understood a word on the quiz.

Kendall sighed warily as he headed towards the hockey rink, was in a separate building than the rest of the school. Once there, he headed straight for Gustavo, who was already there and setting up from the perfect place to watch the hopefuls. A few other people, some whom he recognized and some whom he didn't, were also milling about on the ice.

"Gustavo," he said, falsely cheerful. Gustavo would kill him if he knew about Kendall's problems with math. He couldn't play hockey if he was failing a class.

"Dog," Gustavo grunted. He pointed out the table and folding chairs. "Set this up, then go suit up to go out on the ice."

Kendall rolled his eyes, but did what Gustavo asked. He smiled and breathed in deep as he stepped into the locker room for the first time that year. It stank of sweat, deodorant and cologne, and old hockey gear, but it reminded him of all their past victories, and the many they would no doubt have this season. That is, if they had the right players.

As Kendall got dressed, other people trickled in, some in large groups, others by themselves, and began to get into their gear as well. Kendall spotted Logan coming in with James and Carlos and waved, but didn't approach them. Knowing, as the team captain, he was going to be judging the guys in the locker room, he didn't want to seem like he was playing favorites. He politely nodded to a few people and wished them luck as he skated back out onto the ice.

For the first ten to fifteen minutes, Kendall and all the guys trying out skated around, casually passing pucks back and forth, getting their feet under them. Kendall kept an eye on everyone, silently noting who was moving casually and hitting the puck with ease, and who looked like they could barely skate. He could see Gustavo doing the same thing up on the bleachers.

After a little bit, Kendall whistled loudly, and everyone turned their attention towards him.

He had to shout slightly to make sure everyone heard him. "Okay, so you all know why we're here. There's a pretty good number of you here, but we'll probably only be able to get a good 20, 25 players at most, so don't take it personally if you don't make it on the team. Even if you were on the team last year, there's no guarantee you'll make it this year, too. Remember, this is a _team, _so you don't want to start playing dirty against your potential teammates. It won't make you look good, trust me. When Gustavo calls your name, just raise your hand and we'll tell you what to do next."

At first, Kendall sat back and watched with Gustavo as the guys went through the drills. After a while, when it was time for the skirmishes, Kendall went out on the ice and played himself. He watched each player individually, as well as how certain people interacted.

Finally, after nearly an hour and a half, Kendall told them to hit the showers. He skated over in Gustavo's direction to talk about who really stood out. As predicted, most of the team from last year was still in ship-shape, with the exception of a few people. A couple of juniors were looking pretty good out there as well, and, Kendall was glad to see, Logan as well. He was fast on the ice and seemed like he could anticipate the other players' next moves pretty well. He worked especially well with Carlos, and another guy from last year named Jackson McLeod. A few freshman and sophomores were looking surprisingly good as well.

Thoroughly exhausted, Kendall and Gustavo agreed to talk more over the next few days, and Kendall skated back to the locker room. He got everyone's attention, and told them that they would post who made the team next week in the office.

After a quick, refreshing shower, Kendall headed back to get his clothes. He was surprised to see James, Carlos, and Logan waiting for him.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, going for his bag. "You didn't have to wait for me. I'm used to walking home from school by now."

James smiled and punched Kendall in the shoulder playfully. "We don't mind. Besides, now you have the perfect opportunity to tell us all about how good we did."

"I should've known you had an ulterior motive. You can never do anything out of the kindness of your heart."

"Logan can, I bet," said Carlos cheerfully.

Kendall smiled, then paused as he got his clothes out. He normally wouldn't think twice about changing in front of other guys. But what about with Logan here? Not that Kendall would mind seeing _Logan_ without clothes… he automatically shut down his brain. Kendall wasn't a homophobe, obviously, but he wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to feel about this…

Logan subtly rolled his eyes, seeing the thoughts going through Kendall's brain. He didn't really blame Kendall (not entirely), but it was still annoying as fuck. He turned around and pretended to be looking through his shit. Kendall, relieved and grateful for Logan being so understanding, quickly pulling on his underwear. Carlos and James chatted along aimlessly, James pretending like he hadn't just seen the silent conflict.

As they headed out to the car, Carlos pestered Kendall about the results of the tryouts (which he refused to divulge). They stuffed their gear into the trunk of James' car. Logan heard his phone ringing and groaned when he saw who it was.

"What's wrong?" asked Kendall.

"Nothing," Logan grumbled. When James raised an eyebrow at him, he elaborated. "It's Nate."

James all but growled. "What the hell is that fuckhead doing calling you?"

"Don't know."

The name sounded vaguely familiar to Kendall, but he couldn't place it. "Who's Nate?"

"My ex," muttered Logan.

"Your ex?" frowned Carlos. "Why is he calling you?"

"Who knows. We broke up in April."

"Probably one of his billionth apologies," said James. Kendall wondered what this Nate guy was apologizing for.

"Yeah, well, he probably just wants a quick fuck, so he can forget about that. Like I'm ever going to see him again."

"Doesn't he know you're in Minnesota?"

Logan shrugged. "Don't know. I only told my friends I was moving. Me and Nate aren't exactly on speaking terms. And my friends hated Nate even before we got together."

They got into the car and James started to drive away. They went in the direction of Carlos' house first, since it was in the opposite direction, and Nate called Logan twice more. On the third call, Logan sighed. "He won't stop calling until I answer, sorry," he muttered, before answering the phone.

"What do you want," Logan snapped.

"_Logan? Hey, baby! What's up?"_

"Oh my god, are you drunk?"

"_No!"_

"High?"

"_So what if I am?"_

"It's fucking five o'clock on Tuesday."

"_Don't be such a nagger, Loge. Loosen up. You're good at that."_

"Leave me the fuck alone, Nate. I'm not gonna forgive you, so stop calling and bothering me, it's not gonna happen."

Nate was quiet for a moment. _"Where are you?"_

"What does it matter? It won't happen either way."

"_I haven't seen you all school year. Nobody's tellin' me where you are. I miss you."_

"Go fucking check Facebook."

"_So you're really in Minnesota? Why the hell are you there?"_

Logan saw red. "You fucking know why I'm here, asshole! Or did you forget the entire summer?"

"_Don't- don't you miss me?"_

Logan shut his eyes tight, and answered honestly. "Not in the slightest."

"_Fine! Act like a dick, then. I'll find somebody new to fuck, someone better than you. Can't be too hard to top you."_

"Go home, Nate. And stop calling me." Logan hung up the phone and looked out the window, fuming. Nobody said anything for a bit, not even Carlos. They listened to the radio for a few miles until they pulled up outside the Garcia yard, cluttered with toys, balls, and a billion things that kids and boys would use.

"See you guys tomorrow!" said Carlos cheerfully, shutting the car door behind him and all but running to his front porch.

"How does that kid have so much energy?" Kendall wondered aloud. Logan and James chuckled when Carlos came running back, realizing he left his hockey stuff in the trunk.

Once he was home, Kendall went straight to his bedroom. Exhaustedly flopping on his bed, he thought about Nate. He couldn't hear what Logan's ex was saying over the phone from the backseat of the car, but he got the general gist of the conversation by how pissed Logan was. Once again, Kendall couldn't help but wonder _why_ exactly Logan was in Minnesota. What had happened during the summer?

It was obviously something bad, because even the mention of it would upset Logan to no end. Kendall sort of wanted to beat Nate up, because, for some stupid, irrational reason, he felt kind of… _protective,_ of Logan, almost. He nearly had a heart attack earlier that day when Mike, the largest player by far on the hockey team, had nearly rammed into Logan. Kendall tried to shake the feeling, but there was still murder in his heart directed towards Nate. He wondered what Logan saw in that guy that he went out with him, even though his friends hated him. He wondered what he looked like. Did Logan have a type? Was his type an asshole? _Why the fuck didn't he stay in Texas, so he couldn't torture me so much?_

Rolling over to retrieve his ipod, Kendall tried to turn his thoughts onto the hockey tryouts and who would make the team, but no matter how much he distracted himself, he kept coming back to Logan. He always did.

**I know absolutely nothing about hockey. I looked up some stuff online, like basic things, but I'm honestly not all that interested, so… haha. Sorry if I got anything wrong.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, I know, I know- I'm a terrible person, I took way too long to update, etc., etc. I'm really sorry, yet again. My excuse is writer's block, which is lame but true, so what are you gonna do. If it's any consolation, not only is this chapter especially long (longer than I intended, sorry), but you finally get a taste of what you've all been waiting for. YES, THAT'S RIGHT- KOGAN ACTION. BAM. Now you know why it took me so long?**

**Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy.**

_November 1- One Month and Four Days Later_

Kendall woke up with wet sheets- _yet again_- and groaned as he rolled out of bed. Checking the clock, he saw it was nearly noon- actually pretty early considering he hadn't gotten home until nearly four, and now had a killer hangover. Luckily, Katie was at a friend's for Halloween and his mom was staying with her girlfriends as well, under the impression he had stayed at James' (of course, knowing Kendall's mom, she probably knew what he was up to but let him do it anyway).

He had actually been at Stacey Turner's Halloween party and ended up at home, even though James offered for him to stay at his house. But Kendall was NOT going through that again- even if Logan _was _just as drunk as him this time.

It was a good thing he didn't stay there, too, because it was just plain embarrassing to have a wet dream at somebody else's house- especially when it was about them.

Kendall had been waking up, every other night or so, with Logan's name on his lips and a stain on his underwear for nearly a month, and it wasn't getting any better. His whole plan about distancing himself from Logan had gone _entirely _down the drain. He now not only saw Logan in Chemistry class, but also occasionally at lunch, at hockey practice three times a week, and often after school (Logan still did most of the driving, even though he had his own car). Plus, he was now seeing Logan at least once a week outside of school for math tutoring, which, granted, had helped him improve his grade a lot. He had also occasionally been helping Logan out with English, which he was actually terrible at- almost as terrible as Kendall was at math. And on top of everything else, they had a chemistry project to complete together now.

Logan, at this point, was basically dominating Kendall's life, his thoughts, and his dreams, and Kendall knew it was only a matter of time before he cracked. Something needed to be done. But what?

…..

Logan couldn't deny that he had had a good time the night before. It was everything a Halloween party should be; goofy decorations, stupid-and/or-slutty costumed teens, loud music, good weed, and, of course, plenty of booze. Carlos had become his saving grace after agreeing to be the designated driver this time, in order to make up for all the trouble he caused before. Logan had taken full advantage of this and downed several beers, as well as possibly an entire bottle of bourbon by himself (mostly taken in the form of body shots off of a Jennifer's stomach).

The only problem he had was, as usual, Kendall. Nothing had happened, and though he still didn't want a drunken hook-up to be the way they got together, at this point he would've taken anything.

He had been spending, on average, three to four hours a day in the company of Kendall (yes, he did the math), and roughly a third of the texts, tweets, Facebook messages and e-mails he sent were for Kendall. He thought about him twenty-four-seven, and he could tell the Kendall definitely had SOME sort of feelings for him, too. But nothing was happening. He needed to do something, make a move, get Kendall to admit it, anything.

The problem was that if Kendall turned him down, denied being gay or bi, or even just didn't actually feel the same (although that was looking extremely unlikely), Logan didn't think he could stand to lose Kendall. Everything would change about their friendship. Of course, Logan didn't have a problem with _that-_ change was natural, even if it was bad, he could deal, he had before. But Kendall was a special case. He didn't know what it was about that stupid, hockey-obsessed, song-writing, adorable green-eyed blonde, but there was something about him that captivated Logan, and he couldn't even think of losing out on seeing his face every day.

Logan, despite his past drunkenness and his current hangover, had a pretty good recollection of the night, and neither he nor Kendall had let one thing slip, shared one private moment, had one kiss or "mistake". It had been a complete bust. So much for Camille's plan.

Logan contemplated calling either Camille or Josh, to mope to them and gain their sympathy, but he knew Camille would have none of that and only yell at him, and Josh would tell him to just be honest (as they had been playing this game quite long enough). Logan wasn't really ready to do that, and besides, he had homework. Not to mention helping Kendall out yet again (not that he was complaining).

Logan sighed as he rolled out of bed. Today was Saturday- a one-on-one Kendall day. He resolved that if something didn't happen today, drastic measures would have to be taken. And nobody wanted that.

…..

Usually when Logan arrived at the Knight resident, Mrs. Knight or Katie would answer the door. Katie would try to coerce him into playing video games with her, and Mrs. Knight would smile kindly at him while screaming for Kendall at the foot of the stairs. Then Kendall would run down, looking utterly embarrassed, and drag Logan to his room, where it appeared as though he had hastily shoved some of his mess under his bed.

Today, however, was different. Kendall wrenched open the door himself, and Logan immediately noticed how strangely quiet the house was.

"Where's your mom and sister?" Logan asked, stepping through the doorway.

Kendall led him up the stairs. "Mom was out with her girlfriends for this Halloween party thingy. They all got drunk, probably, and Mom hates driving with a hangover, so she'll probably be back around four or five. And Katie slept over at a friend's too, so she's gonna stay there 'til Mom can pick her up."

"Oh." Logan's palms started sweating, and he felt a whole lot more nervous. He had only been half serious when he resolved to make something happen. Suddenly the possibility was looking distinctly more realistic.

As soon as they were situated on the bed, Mila, Kendall's cat, wandered in, meowing loudly. Kendall sighed and placed her on the bed, where she quickly settled into Logan's lap. He chuckled. She had taken a liking to him after his second visit, something that Kendall said was incredibly rare.

"So, what do we start with today?" asked Kendall, trying his best not to touch Logan so to avoid the intense butterflies contact put into his stomach.

"Umm…" Logan was momentarily distracted by the way that little strand of Kendall's hair fell down his forehead (his hair was getting sort of long). "Uh, we can try starting Chapter 3, if you want. I talked to your teacher and she said you're having a quiz sometime next week."

"Who are you, my mom?" Kendall made a face. "_I _don't even talk to my teachers."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Which explains why you're doing so swimmingly in a simple Statistics class."

Kendall ignored the jibe about the Statistics. "_Swimmingly?_" he snickered.

Logan whapped him on the arm. "Yes. Now shut up and do your math."

Kendall shrugged and turned to his open textbook.

Normally, while Kendall worked (or "slaved away", as he called it) Logan would work on his own homework and take breaks to look over Kendall's work and make corrections. But, today, Logan was not only strangely devoid of typical homework (Calculus, history, etc.), but he had to do yet another portrait for art class. He hesitated for a few minutes, thinking about the possible outcomes of asking Kendall to model, mainly coming out negative in his mind. Finally, he thought of the resolution he had made, and decided, _screw it._

"Hey, um…" Logan awkwardly interrupted and Kendall looked up, eager for an excuse to both stop his math and look at Logan.

"Yeah?"

"Okay, so this might be a weird thing to ask, but would you mind if I drew you? For my art class?"

Kendall was surprised, to say the least. He knew Logan was in art, but he didn't know that they actually had homework. Misreading Kendall's pause, Logan hastily back-tracked, saying, "I mean, if you don't want to of course you don't have to, but I just need to draw someone's portrait over the weekend."

Kendall shook his head and smiled. "No, no, it's fine, you can if you want. I was just surprised, is all. Should I like, pose, or something?"

Logan felt relief flood through his body. "Nah, you can keep working. I'll just draw you the way you're working."

Kendall groaned, obviously looking for an excuse to stop the math. Logan couldn't help but smile at Kendall's predictable adorability. He also shifted a bit in his seat, a tad turned on by the sounds coming out of Kendall's mouth.

"Fine," Kendall grumbled. "But only for you." He instantly regretted the words as they came out of his mouth. But they made Logan's heart- and hopes- soar.

"Great, thanks." He grabbed his sketchbook and took out some of the charcoal sticks stored in his bag. Kristen had decided that they should start using new mediums- they had moved from regular and colored pencils to charcoals and pastels. She had promised that by December they would be well into watercolors, and maybe even oil paints.

"So, uh… just keep working?" Kendall shifted on the bed a bit.

"Yeah. Keep doing what you're doing, just try to stay as still as possible. You won't even notice me, I swear."

For the first fifteen minutes or so, things seemed to be going fairly well. Kendall kept fidgeting, which was slightly annoying to Logan, but expected- Kendall had way too much energy. Even after several hours of grueling hockey practice (Coach Rocque really was a hardass), Kendall couldn't sit still. He was almost as bad as Carlos.

Yeah, Logan watched Kendall a lot. Maybe a little too much.

Kendall nervously shifted his eyes to his left where Logan was sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking between Kendall and his page with the same staggering amount of intensity. It was making him rather nervous. He cleared his throat quietly, crossed and then uncrossed his feet, and tapped his pencil while attempting to focus on the next question.

Logan sighed heavily and placed his sketchbook face down, careful not to smudge it but not wanting Kendall to see it yet. (He _did _have a certain sense of artist's pride.) "Okay, so do you have ADD, or what?"

"What!" Kendall asked, somewhat self-consciously.

"You're, like, moving all over the place. I don't mind if you move a bit, but it's hard for me to draw you in two different positions. What's wrong?"

Kendall bit his lip, completely unaware of how much he was causing Logan's heartbeat to speed up. "You're like, watching me so intensely."

"Well, yeah. That's what I do. I'm drawing you."

"Yeah, okay, but I just… never mind."

Logan felt a little bad for being so sharp and his voice softened. "No, it's okay. I'm sorry. Just tell me. I'll try to make it better."

"I'm… ugh, okay, I feel stupid saying this, but a lot attention and people watching me makes me self-conscious. Especially when you're drawing me. I know, I sound like a girl."

Logan's heart instantly melted. He knew exactly what Kendall was talking about. "No, it doesn't. I totally get that. I hate people constantly watching me, too. Basically everyone feels uncomfortable when they're being drawn or painted or whatever for the first time, too."

Kendall tried not to read too much into Logan's soothing tone, or the way he said being drawn "for the first time".

"Really?"

"Yeah, for sure. I'm just surprised you are."

Kendall frowned. "Why?"

Logan figured he was going deep (or as deep as he had ever been with Kendall) by saying this, but he was here now and there was no going back. "You're just so… confident. Around people. You seem to thrive off of it. Wait, no, that's not what I mean. You're not an attention whore, or anything. But you're… a leader. You know? You're so sure of yourself, and don't deny it, I've seen it in action. People are just automatically drawn to you, and you… I guess I could say that you're okay with it? You don't try for attention or anything, but when people are around you, they just automatically turn to you, and you… never fail them. Like, ever. You're so put together, even when you're completely stressed out. That's why you make such an awesome hockey captain, and why you're so popular."

Kendall, at first, had no idea as to what to say to Logan's little speech. So, like the idiot he was, he said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm popular?"

Logan burst out laughing. Kendall was just beyond him. "Yes, god, you are what we normal people consider popular. You're insanely well known, and well liked. Oh my goodness, you are just _so _oblivious."

Kendall grinned rather sheepishly, but couldn't help the little sense of appreciation he felt. He was glad people liked him- even though he knew it was stupid, it made him feel a little bit better about himself. "Well, I could say the same for you, man."

Logan shook his head. "Nah, it's not the same."

"It so is, though! Plenty of people know you, and I haven't met anyone so far who doesn't like you. You're confident too, you just do what you want. You don't care what people say about you."

"That's really not the same thing."

"How? How is that not the same?" Kendall was getting rather indignant now. "Please, explain."

"Well, first of all, people mostly know me because I'm friends with _you_, and I can guarantee there are a few people who more than dislike me. But my confidence is different from yours. You're just you, and you stay that way no matter what, and that 'you' happens to be a natural born leader. I just… don't care. I don't care what people think of me, as long as I don't know them, because they don't know _me_. I'm used to being hated by people who don't even know me- that comes from being gay. And I'm used to change, so I know better than getting too attached to things. But once I _do _get attached, I'm probably one of the least confident people you know. I'm so unsure of myself. You wouldn't even believe. I just can't bring myself to care about a bunch of kids that I don't know and will be leaving behind in less than a year. I mean, I care about the people that are my friends, of course, but why bother to try when everything's gonna change, you know?"

Kendall was literally speechless. There were many, many things wrong with what Logan had just said, at least in his mind. A few that were right, but many more that were just… He chose to ignore them for the moment. This was way too personal than he ever planned on getting with Logan. It wasn't good for him to get even more involved. But he also could tell that Logan had some serious problems. And maybe nobody else to talk to them about.

Logan had said way too much, and he knew it. He cleared his throat and looked away while Kendall just sat there. Finally, he broke the silence.

"I guess I'm just surprised is all. I guess if a guy as confident as you can be insecure, than anyone can be, right?" he attempted to joke.

Kendall cracked a smile, deciding to attempt to decipher Logan's speech later. "Yeah, maybe. With me it's more of a one-on-one thing, I guess." _Total lie. It's just _you_ that makes me nervous._

Logan sighed and turned back to his drawing. "Well, I'm sorry about that. Just pretend like you're alone. Pretend I'm not even here. You won't even notice me."

_I can't NOT notice you, _Kendall thought to himself rather wistfully, a small blush dusting his cheeks. What he didn't realize was that he muttered these words aloud. Logan tried furiously to keep the giant grin off of his face, and failed miserably.

After a little while longer, Kendall finished his assignment, but Logan was in the zone and was almost finished, so he pretended to be working by doodling on his notebook for Logan's sake. Logan realized that it never took him this long to finish a drawing, but of course, because it was Kendall, he was taking extra care to make it perfect. At last, he was finished.

"Okay, you're done," he informed Kendall, putting his charcoal pencils away carefully and brushing the shavings into a trashcan.

"Finally," Kendall complained. "I was getting so stiff." Logan raised an eyebrow and smirked, and Kendall blushed before smacking his shoulder. "Shut up, you know what I meant."

"I didn't say anything," responded Logan, keeping his composure.

"Well?" Kendall gestured towards the sketchbook. "Don't I get to see it?"

"Oh…" Logan was still rather shy about sharing his work, even after months of Anthony, Kitten, and Goth Girl stealing his sketchbook in art class. "Yeah, I guess. If you want."

Kendall picked up the book, expecting a pretty good, but still high school level, messy sketch of him hunched over his math textbook.

What he got was anything but that.

Firstly, the drawing was just purely incredible. It looked exactly like him. Every detail, every feature, it was all captured perfectly by Logan's careful hand. But it was more than just that. Somehow, Logan had magically managed to capture the entire scene, the entire feel of… the atmosphere, he supposed. He wasn't quite able to put it into words, but it was breathtaking, how accurately Logan had drawn it all. If Kendall didn't know better, he would've said that you could almost see the drawing come to life.

But the most impressive thing was how, even when just drawing Kendall do the math he hated on his unmade bed, Logan made it _gorgeous._ It looked good. HE looked good. Even in a simple, slightly blurred charcoal drawing, Logan had some sort of magic that made the scene both beautiful and realistic.

It was art.

Kendall's jaw had fallen as soon as he had seen the drawing, and stayed that way. Logan thought that that was a good sign, but his more modest nature still made him slightly anxious about the verdict. "Well?" he asked Kendall. "What do you think?"

Kendall finally closed his mouth and searched for words to speak. "I think… you are incredibly talented and amazing and one of the best artists I have ever seen. Not that I know a lot about art, but…"

Logan didn't even bother trying to hide the huge smile that made its way onto his face. "You really think so?" Somehow, Kendall thinking it made it so much more valuable than anyone else thinking it.

"Definitely. For sure. I had no idea you would be this good. God, what I would give to have a fraction of your talent."

Logan had to blush at that a little. "You're exaggerating."

"I'm seriously not. This, Logan, wow… This is amazing. You captured everything _perfectly_. And you made me look good."

"Why does everyone always say that?" Logan complained, throwing his hands up in the air.

Kendall laughed. "You should take that as a compliment. But seriously though, thanks. You actually made me pretty hot, if I do say so myself."

Although Kendall's tone was filled with teasing and fake cockiness, Logan could tell that underneath it was insecurity.

"No, I didn't. You look that hot on your own."

Kendall raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, I don't think so."

"Kendall, I'm being serious. I didn't exaggerate or change anything. That's the way you look."

"And I'm being serious, _Logie-bear," _answered Kendall, mimicking his tone. "I mean, I know I'm not ugly or anything, but newsflash: I'm not that good-looking either. I mean, have you _seen_ me?"

"_Yes._" Logan responded emphatically. "Do you really think that about yourself?"

Kendall shrugged. "Don't we all? But you don't have to make me feel better, Logan. I know some girls find me attractive. Just not all. 'Cause I'm not like a model or anything. It's cool. It's fine. I just don't look as good as you made me in your picture."

Logan shook his head. "Kendall. Speaking as someone who is attracted solely to the male gender, I can tell you once and for all: you are _gorgeous_. Practically every girl who sees you thinks so. And every gay guy. Trust me. I know better than you do, and _that-_" he pointed at the sketch- "is how you look in real life."

"Really?" Kendall asked in a rather small voice. "You… actually think that?"

Logan leaned forward, almost involuntarily, and was insanely grateful when Kendall didn't move back. "I don't think that. I know that. You are by far one of, if not _the, _hottest guys I have ever seen in my life. You're sexy, beautiful, adorable, and downright stunning. You are wonderful, inside and out. Anyone would be lucky to have you."

Kendall inched a little closer to Logan. They were both on their knees now, facing one another in the center of the bed. Logan could see everything flashing through Kendall's bright green eyes, and he was sure Kendall could see the same in his.

Logan swallowed dryly before continuing on. "_I _would be lucky to have you. I've never met a guy like you."

They were so close now that Logan could feel Kendall's hot breath on his face as he spoke. "I've never met a guy like you, either."

And then, finally, _finally,_ FINALLY, their lips were crashing together, moving in perfect sync, and the only thought running through Logan's brain was _This has to be heaven because dreams aren't this good. _He pulled Kendall closer to him, not daring to open his eyes for a second, only savoring the feel of Kendall's soft mouth on his, his plump lips moving against Logan with equal desperation and force, his hands roaming up to Logan's hair and down to his waste to tug them even closer together, as close as they could possibly be with clothes on.

Breathlessly, Kendall clung to Logan, not thinking at all, only _feeling, _feeling what he had wanted for so long but never thought he would have. As Logan's mouth opened and his tongue ventured to meet Kendall's eagerly awaiting one, all he could feel was absolutely ecstasy, because this was _amazing. _More than he had ever dreamed of. He fisted Logan's dark locks desperately, not wanting to ever let go, and Logan responded by digging into Kendall's lower back so forcefully that he was sure to leave fingernail marks. There was absolutely no room between them at all, so that their chests were pushed up against each other as Kendall leaned back slightly towards his headboard, and their quickly growing erections brushed each other almost painfully.

Almost out of air, Logan pulled away for one broken, tormented second before moving his lips to Kendall's jaw, kissing up it passionately. Kendall had never been treated this way before, kissed this way, and it was so delicious that he couldn't help but let out a moan, breaking the near silence that had only held the sound of their breathing.

His own moan woke his brain out of the apparent slumber it had been in, and his eyes shot open as he realized in horror what he was doing.

It happened so fast that Logan barely had time to register it. One minute he had his lips on what was possibly the greatest thing he had ever encountered, and the next he was on his butt on the floor of Kendall's bedroom, panting and confused. A "What the hell," escaped his lips before he could stop it because really, what had just happened.

He got up off of the floor and was about to ask Kendall what had just happened when he saw the expression on Kendall's face. He was completely white- more so than usual- and had his hands in his hair, pulling on it so desperately it looked like he might tear it out. He was staring blankly at a spot somewhere around the area of his lap, or maybe the bed. Logan's annoyance at the interruption in what was no question the best kiss of his life quickly evaporated. Of course. He had seen this coming, hadn't he? And yet he had still leapt in. A stupid move, now that he thought about it, but Kendall just intoxicated him and he couldn't help himself.

"Kendall," he said, more softly. "Kendall, are you okay?" No response.

He continued. "I'm sorry." No response.

"Can you… say something?" No response.

Tentatively, Logan reached out towards Kendall and touched his shoulder lightly. _That _certainly got a reaction.

"Don't touch me!" Kendall spat, knocking Logan's arm away carelessly with his own. "Don't- don't talk… I can't… Just- just don't."

Logan nodded silently and complied. He moved away from the bed and grabbed his sketchbook, where it had fallen to the floor. He quietly put his things back in his bag, and Kendall still didn't do anything. After a moment of deliberation, Logan sat down in the chair in front of Kendall's desk. He wasn't leaving until Kendall said something.

At last, Kendall let out a shaky breath and spoke. "I can't… do this."

Logan couldn't say that he was surprised, but his heart still broke into a million pieces as Kendall said it. "You can't… do this?"

Kendall shook his head, refusing to look up at Logan.

"Do… what? Like me?" Logan bit his lip, staring at Kendall and silently willing him to come over and kiss Logan senseless, as though it might actually happen.

"I don't. I don't like you. We're just friends. That's all you are to me. Nothing more." Kendall's voice sounded almost like a robot's, like he had been programmed to speak those words.

It killed him to say them almost as much as it killed Logan to hear them.

Logan sat quietly before responding. "That's a lie and you know it. So why don't you tell me the truth."

Kendall finally snapped, and he looked up at Logan, rage in his eyes. "That is the truth!"

Even though he sounded angry, Logan could see through it just enough to tell that Kendall was just as hurt as he was, and even more confused.

"No it's not."

Kendall lost it then. "YES IT IS! THAT IS THE TRUTH! I DON'T HAVE ANY FEELINGS FOR YOU, LOGAN, OKAY! THERE IS NOTHING THERE. YOU ARE JUST A GUY THAT I KNOW- YOU'RE NOT EVEN REALLY MY FRIEND! I BARELY KNOW YOU, AND YOU DON'T KNOW ME! AND THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT I LIKE YOU OR THINK ABOUT YOU OR DAYDREAM ABOUT YOU OR WANT YOU, BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT- YOU- YOU'RE- I'M NOT- I CAN'T BE."

Kendall realized in shock that he was standing only about a foot away from where Logan was petrified on the desk chair. He swallowed thickly and stepped back, not daring to meet Logan's eyes. "I- I think you should go."

Logan closed his mouth and bit back the tears he could feel forming. He knew, deep down, that Kendall didn't mean the words he was saying, that it was just the hurt and confliction pouring out, and that he was a fool to think that everything would work out after the first try. He knew this was coming, he knew Kendall didn't mean it- but it still stung. Deeply.

"Okay," he answered quietly, picking up his bag and moving towards the door. He peered back at Kendall before walking out of the room- he looked utterly, hopelessly defeated, standing at the edge of his bed and refusing to make eye contact. He looked exactly how Logan felt.

Logan walked downstairs and out the front door in a haze, remembering to lock it behind him before getting out his car keys. It wasn't until he had driven the car several blocks away and pulled over at the side of the road that he broke down. Frustrated, he pulled at his own hair and hit the steering wheel in anger, yelling incoherent curses at nothing in particular. He wiped away a few stray tears before collecting himself. He wasn't going down yet. He was going to fight for Kendall. There was no way he was giving up now, not when he was so close. Not by a long shot.

Elsewhere, in his room, Kendall stared numbly at the walls and cursed himself inwardly. Over and over and over again. How could he be so stupid? What was he thinking? _You weren't,_ that viciously little voice inside his head told him. _You're an idiot and a coward. Now look where that's gotten you._ Everything was pouring out now- all the memories, the feelings, everything he had tucked away in that forgotten part of his mind. It overtook him and, in desperation, he threw his math textbook at a wall- followed by several other unfortunate items left lying around, many of which broke. But it didn't make him feel better. It didn't make the voice go away. It didn't make the feelings stop. Nothing did.

He had screwed everything up. Even more so by yelling at Logan- he hadn't meant to lose his temper so violently. Maybe it was for the better, though. Now, he thought bitterly, Logan knew he was a freak and would stay away from him. That could be the end of everything. He wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. Things could go back to the way they used to be.

But what really sucked was that as much as Kendall had begged for it, hoped for it, prayed for it, Logan being gone from his life was the last thing he wanted. In fact, just the thought killed him.

A little bit more.

…..

On Monday, Logan didn't say anything to Kendall in the morning, besides a friendly, "Hello." Kendall merely grunted in response. Logan couldn't tell if Kendall was mad at him, or if he was just trying to avoid him. Regardless, he decided it was best to give Kendall some space for a bit. At least, that's what Josh had told him when he called him on Saturday night. Camille advised him to attack Kendall as soon as they were alone in the locker room and force him into admitting he had feelings. But Logan wasn't about to do that.

The days passed by as slowly as possible, and Logan was pretty sure it was torture, trying to spend time away from Kendall. They never passed notes in Chem anymore. At hockey practice, Kendall barely acknowledged Logan, only calling his name for the roll call. At lunch, Logan tried to avoid their table, sitting instead with Jenny and her friends (thankfully, he and Topher were now on slightly better terms; at least, they were speaking.) Instead of hanging out after school with Logan, James, and Carlos, Kendall politely declined with some lame excuse. Logan didn't push, no matter how much he wanted to. He was just grateful James and Carlos didn't catch on and ask about a fight or something.

Kendall was tense the whole week, trying not to let Logan's giving him space lured him into a false sense of security. It was obvious to him now, after- _that-_ happened, the only option was to completely avoid Logan. No matter how much it hurt him. No matter how much it killed him to see that sad look in Logan's eyes…

He had no choice. This was the only way. It was better for everyone.

So why didn't it feel that way?

…..

Logan was going to break any moment now. He could feel it. It was Friday evening, and they were finishing up in the locker room after a good two hours on the ice. The days were getting shorter, and it was near dark outside now. He could see through the window.

This was driving him insane. He tried giving Kendall space, but it wasn't working. Kendall seemed to just be using it as an excuse to distance himself even more. Josh reminded him that these things took time, he didn't want to push Kendall too hard, he just needed to wait a little longer. But Logan had waited long enough. He was seriously close to taking Camille's advice and just cornering Kendall. After all, he had been in that same place once before, and all he needed was a little push. That was all. A little push. Kendall wouldn't be getting it from anyone else, so he felt he had to.

_The question is, would you still be doing this, even if you weren't head over heels for Kendall?_ he asked himself.

The automatic answer was yes, of course. He would help. Because he knew what it was like: to be stuck in the closet and be afraid of what was outside of the door.

Unfortunately, now was not exactly the best time to talk to Kendall in private, since there were several other guys in the locker room still. Sighing, Logan went out to his Mustang and dumped his stuff in the trunk. James had driven his own car to school today, and left early to get home for a primping session, taking Carlos home while he was at it. Logan was secretly grateful, because he could NOT handle Carlos' cheerful chatter right now. He loved the guy to death, but sometimes he just needed his space to brood.

Logan got in the driver's seat and started the engine just as it began to rain. Within less than a minute, it was pouring outside. Logan pulled the car around the lot, passing by the school, and noticed somebody taking shelter outside the door from the rain. He squinted to see if it was anyone from the hockey team that he could give a ride to.

It was Kendall.

It wasn't exactly the opportunity Logan had been waiting for, but he couldn't let Kendall be stuck there, so he rolled down the window and shouted, "Hey! Kendall!"

Kendall stood under the small overhang outside the school's side door, waiting for the rain to let up so that he could walk home. He looked up when he heard somebody call his name. Then his stomach sank. It was Logan.

"If you don't want to get soaked, get in!" Logan hollered.

Kendall hesitated, but he really didn't want to come home sopping wet, and the rain didn't look like it was about to let up anytime soon. Besides, it was just a ride, right?

Kendall ran for the car, which Logan opened for him, and tossed his hockey stuff in the back as he got in. He swiftly shut the door before shaking his now wet hair out.

"You alright?" Logan asked quietly. He only got a nod in response.

They were barely on the road before a huge clap of thunder hit. "Jesus, it's raining cats and dogs out here," commented Kendall. Logan drove extra slow, but that didn't seem to be any help. Eventually, it was at the point that Logan could barely see the road in front of him, and in desperation, he pulled over (1).

Kendall sighed. "So we're just gonna wait this out?" he grumbled.

Logan shrugged. "No other choice." He unbuckled his seatbelt, Kendall doing the same. He looked at Kendall for a minute before saying, "But since we're here, it might be a good time to talk."

Kendall froze. He had known this was coming, yet he had walked straight into it. He squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for what was coming- yelling, arguing, _I-never-wanna-see-you-agains,_ even hitting. But none of that came.

Logan seeing Kendall's reaction, spoke softly. "I'm not mad at you, Kendall, if that's what you think. I… understand. Sort of. But I won't lie, I'm a little bit hurt. I can tell that you are too, or at least… confused. And neither of us is going to get anywhere if we don't talk about this." Kendall didn't say anything, so he continued. "I'm here for you, you know. It's okay. Whatever we talk about, it doesn't have to leave this car. I'm here to listen. So talk."

Kendall refused to meet Logan's eyes. "You should be mad at me," he whispered.

Logan shook his head, his eyes so kind and understanding it nearly broke Kendall right then and there. "I could never be."

"Well, you should! I was a total jerk to you." Kendall finally looked up at Logan, and he could see tears in those beautiful green eyes. "I'm sorry, by the way. I never meant to yell at you. Or freak out. I just… lost it. A bit. And then I was practically ignoring you… you don't deserve that. And you should hate me for and not want to spend time with me. That would be easier for everyone."

"It wouldn't be easier for me."

Kendall pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. "Listen, Logan. This isn't- I'm not gay. I'm not."

"I never said you were." Logan's voice still had that soft tone, but it was also stronger now. More determined. "But there is something going on with you, Kendall. Don't even try to deny it. And we are not leaving this car until you talk to me."

"It's- you don't want to hear it."

"I really do."

"No, you don't. It's so messed up. It's not worth it."

"But it is," Logan continued to prod gently. "_You _are. Kendall, you feel so much better once you let go a bit. I _know,_ okay? I know what it's like. Maybe it wasn't quite the same, but I know that once you let it all out, you will feel one hundred times better. And you won't have to worry, because I can keep a secret. Please."

Kendall's chin trembled. He didn't dare look up.

Logan leaned forward and whispered. "Let it go. For me."

Kendall Knight wasn't a crier. He had cried before, sure, every person did, but he wasn't one who really _cried._ When he cried, it was just a few tears. He didn't sob. He didn't let go and bury his face into a pile of tissues and cry until he could barely breathe, until he had the hiccups, until he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. He didn't cry like that when he was ten and his aunt and little cousin died in a car crash. He didn't cry like that when he was in the seventh grade and broke his ankle on the ice. He didn't cry when his grandma died, or when in Freshman year he almost got kicked off of the team for a fight, or when he was beat up in the sixth grade by eighth graders, or when his was dumped for the first time, or when he screwed up the first time around. The only time he had ever cried like that, in memory, was when he was eight and his parents got divorced.

And now.

The dam burst, and suddenly Kendall was _sobbing, _really sobbing, beyond crying. He wrapped his arms around Logan's neck, buried his face into Logan's shoulder, and let it all out. Let everything out. All the pain, the grief, the embarrassment, the hiding, the shame, the confusion. Snot poured from his nose and he was having trouble getting in enough air and his eyes were raw, but he didn't care. He needed this.

Logan, for his part, didn't say anything- only held Kendall gently, rocking him back and forth, petting his hair, whispering "shhh" now and then. It broke his heart, to see Kendall fall apart so desperately, but he knew it was necessary, and let it happen on his jacket.

Neither knew how long they stayed that way. A few minutes, a few hours. A few years. But eventually, Kendall's sobs quieted and he leaned back, letting go of Logan. Wordlessly, Logan handed him a small tissue pack in the glove compartment and a bottle of water. He waited until Kendall had composed himself before saying anything.

"So…"

Kendall cleared his throat, his voice raspy from all the pitiful whines he had let out. "Sorry about your shirt."

Logan barely noticed the wet spot. "It's okay. You feel better now, right? Just a bit?"

Kendall nodded. "Yeah. You, um. You were right. There is something going on with me. A lot."

"You want to talk about it?"

Kendall hesitated. "You promise you won't… that you'll listen."

"Of course," Logan soothed. "I'm always listening."

Kendall took a shaky breath, then leaned back a little bit. Without even thinking, Logan wrapped an arm around him, and Kendall found it to be sort of a comfort. He dug inside himself, dug deep, finding his way back to the accursed dark corner of his brain, and opened it wide.

"Okay… so, I guess in a way, I was like you. When we got to middle school and other guys were noticing girls, I didn't really care. But I didn't notice guys, either. I was just really focused on hockey and pranks and keeping Carlos and James out of trouble. I didn't really care all too much." He looked up to Logan, for a sign that it was okay to continue. When Logan gestured for him to go on, he did.

"Then, when I was twelve, I went to a party and kissed a girl in a game of spin the bottle. It didn't really mean much, to me. I didn't feel anything. But then the other guys talked about how awesome kissing was, and the girls giggled a lot, and I didn't get it. I figure that she was just a girl I wasn't into, even though she was pretty." He thought for a moment. "Actually, now that I think about it, that might've been Stephanie.

"Anyway, after that, I kissed a few more girls, and I still didn't get what all the fuss was about. I think everyone, myself included, just thought I was a late bloomer, or too obsessed with hockey to really be into girls yet. Then, one time, when I was about thirteen, going on fourteen, I was at James' house for a sleepover. And while he and Carlos were asleep, I got bored, and went on his computer. And while I was on there, I found, y'know… porn.

"And again, I didn't get what the fuss was about. I didn't think the girl was that hot. But then the guy came in, and I just… well. It really freaked me out. I mean, it wasn't _natural,_ you know? That's not what's supposed to happen.

"After that, I started getting more into girls. I got my first girlfriend, and made out with more girls, and even got a blowjob once, before high school started. And I just… I didn't get it. They weren't that interesting to me. But I pretended. When other guys talked about girls that were hot or whatever, I joined in, because I didn't know what else to do.

"And then high school started, and I started dating more chicks. I lost my virginity to one, in my freshman year. Stupid, but she wanted to, and I was horny fourteen-year-old, so I did. But I wasn't… it wasn't that good, you know? And no one's first time is supposed to be good, so I was like, whatever. But it never got much better. And then one time, I had my eyes closed, and without even trying to, I imagined this… guy. I don't even know who he was, just some model I had seen somewhere or something. And it was the best sex I had had.

"_That_ really got to me. Because I knew it wasn't what I was supposed to do. But I couldn't help it. So I dated more girls. Not even dated. I only really was a couple with, like, five girls. But I would hook up with some at parties. And the thing was… well, I don't even know. Some girls, I actually thought were hot. And the first time we would make out or have sex, I always would think, _this is what all the fuss is about. It can only get better._ But it never did. They would get boring, and I would go back to thinking about guys. Which sucked.

"Then, in my junior year, I started dating Jo. And she was just… amazing. She kept my interest. I thought she was gorgeous, and sex with her was _always _good. And I thought I had gotten over it, you know? I finally forgot about it a bit. She had 'cured' me, if you'll pardon the phrase. Because I thought I loved her."

Logan would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous at that point, but he ignored it as Kendall kept talking.

"So the first six months were pretty awesome. But then… we started drifting apart. Falling out of… whatever we were, because I don't know if that was really love. We were breaking up, I guess. In the natural way, of course. The way some couples do. I was just sort of oblivious about it.

"Okay. Okay. So this'll make me sound like a jerk. But. In June of last year, Lucy took me with her to this party being thrown up by the lake, about an hour away. I didn't really know anybody there, because it was mostly college-age people. Lucy went off to talk to some friends, and I met this…guy.

"His name was Ryan, he was starting his sophomore year of college, and he was… gay. I mean, he didn't go straight out and tell me, but I got the hint. And he was nice, and friendly, and sorta hot. So we… we hung out most of the night, and both got sort of drunk. And eventually he took me up to one of the bedrooms, and we started making out. I just wasn't thinking. I forgot I had a girlfriend. That I was supposed to be straight. Because I loved it.

"The cops showed just as he was about to go down on me, and I ran out of the party. And that's when it really sunk in for me, what I had done. And I just freaked out. Like, really freaked. Worse than you saw. Because I thought I was over this, and I had never done anything like that before. I was so confused and my head hurt, and I just… wanted it to go away. I swore to myself nothing like that would ever happen again. I would never think about it.

"So I broke up with Jo, partially because it had been coming and partially because I felt bad for cheating on her. Not that she knew that. I never told anyone. But she got that we were drifting apart and we agreed to be friends. And then over the summer, I hooked up with a few girls but it was just the same as it was before. They didn't really do much for me, after the first time.

"And then you showed up. At the beginning of the school year. And god damn it, Logan, I hated you so much. Because if anyone could make me go back on that promise I made myself, it was you. And then you were gay and it just… screwed everything up. All my plans, everything. I kept trying to avoid you, distance myself a bit. But you just kept invading more and more, even when you weren't around, and eventually I couldn't resist. After… we kissed, on Saturday, I totally wrecked my room. I was so pissed at myself. I couldn't fight it. I felt weak.

"It's just… it's not even the gay thing, you know? That's a big part of it, but that's not all of it. It's the fact that it's so confusing. Okay, I admit, I'm attracted to guys. But not every guy. And then with girls, sometimes they do it for me, but never long before I get bored. Except for with Jo. She throws this big loop into everything. Because I really had feelings for her, Logan, I really did. It might not have been love, but there was something there beyond friendship and it's just… gah, I'm so confused." Unable to go on, Kendall cover his face with his hands.

"Hey, Kendall," Logan said quietly. "Look at me." He pulled the hands off of Kendall's face.

"It's okay, Kendall. It's alright to be confused. Sexuality is… a confusing thing. For some people it's for sure, for other people it's not. It's fluid, it changes. You can't always put a label on it. But if you really need to… have you ever considered the fact that you may be bisexual?"

"Does that he even exist?" Kendall whispered, leaning onto Logan's shoulder.

"For some people, yes. You can't help who you're attracted to. For you, maybe you tend to be more attracted to guys, which is why the girls you're with don't always interest you or bore you after a while. But Jo was your exception."

Kendall thought for a bit before nodding. "Maybe. That… might make sense." He took a deep breath and said, as strongly as he could muster, "I'm bisexual." And for a few seconds, he felt better. Loads better. But then, as he thought more, more tears came to his eyes. "B-but I don't want to be."

Logan sighed. "I figured you might say that. You wouldn't be fighting against this so hard if there wasn't something else. So what is it, Kendall?"

Kendall shrugged. Logan held back a sigh, deciding that this would probably be a guessing game.

"Is it the fact that you think you have to change? Does that bother you? You're still you, you know."

"I know."

"Is it… your teammates? Your classmates? Are you worried about their reactions?"

"I guess, but… that's not really it. I know my friends will stick by me."

"So it's not them, either. Is it your family?" When Kendall averted his gaze, Logan knew he hit a soft spot. "Listen, Kendall. I may not know your mom too well or her views, but I can see that she loves you more than anything. She won't-"

"It's not her," interrupted Kendall. "It's… my dad."

_Ah. So we get to the center of it at last. _"What about your dad?"

"He…" Kendall bit his lip and a few more tears slid down his face. "He _hates _gay people, Logan. Hates them with a passion. It… it's not pleasant, whenever he gets to talking about gay people. It's one of the many, many reasons my parents split up."

"Tell me about it," Logan requested.

Kendall almost laughed. "I've… never actually talked to anyone about it. The divorce. How bad it was. How bad he was…"

Logan felt a pit drop into his stomach. "Did he… abuse you?"

"No. Well, not exactly…" Kendall closed his eyes and sighed, figuring that if he was going to tell all these secrets, one more wouldn't hurt. "He seemed like this really great guy, on the outside. He was always really friendly and nice to everyone, and he was really fun. He was the classic great dad. Worked a lot, but when he came home always found time to play sports with me and kiss my mom before dinner and then teach me how to work on cars. He's a real man's man, you know."

Logan nodded. He knew the type.

"But… see, when he was happy, things were great. We were like the perfect family. But he had a temper. And if things didn't go the way he wanted it to, if he messed up or any one of us did… he would lose it. Fast. A lot of times, he yelled. At me, at my mom. Just yelled, but it was loud and I was a kid and it was scary. And if I got upset or cried, he would yell more and call me things like a wimp or a sissy or a… fag." Kendall swallowed dryly.

"That always made my mom mad, more than anything. When he yelled at me. She said sometimes, that he wasn't the same man she married. After a fight, he would always come back and apologize, say he would change. And he'd go back to the nice dad. But it never stuck for long.

"He never hit me, or Katie. But he raised his hand to me more than once, and even though she thinks I don't know, I know he hit mom a few times, during the really bad fights near the end. And he broke stuff, too. He would throw things. One time, I made a mess in the kitchen and he threw a glass at the wall. A shard flew off and hit me in the neck." Kendall lifted up his head to trace a faint scar on the right side of his neck. Logan sucked in a breath. "I had to get stitches. That was really the turning point, for my mom. She finally put her foot down, and we stayed with my grandparents while she sorted out the divorce.

"The reason Katie and I still see my dad, once a month, is because he agreed to get anger management classes. He doesn't yell at us anymore, or break things or lose his temper with us. But I know he's still got that anger in him, because he stopped going to anger management long ago. And sometimes he goes on these rants, about things he hates. Not every time we're there, but most. And a lot of the time, those rants are about gay people. Me and Katie have learned that it's better not to interrupt."

Logan nodded. "Your dad is a huge homophobe, and you're scared of him."

"Yeah, basically. Well, no. It's more than that. I mean, as much of a jerk he can be, he's still my dad, you know? I love him. It's stupid, but I do. And I don't want to… disappoint him. Because when he's not mad, when he's in a good mood, when he and I just play basketball or watch a movie with Katie or do whatever, he's… the person I want to be. It's crazy. But it's true. And I can't stand it, what would happen if he found out I liked another guy. He would hate me."

"Oh, Ken," Logan sighed, pulling him in for another hug. "You shouldn't have to change who you are. You shouldn't have to lie, for your dad's sake." _You're a hypocrite for saying that, _he told himself, but he ignored it for now.

"I know." Kendall sniffled rather pathetically, and Logan could feel his heart breaking in two. "It's just… I don't know what to do. What to say."

"Yeah, I know what that's like."

"Hey Logan…"

"Yeah?" Logan noticed the rain had stopped (2).

"You won't… tell anyone about this, will you?" Kendall's voice sounded pitiful.

"Of course I won't, Kendall."

"Not even James and Carlos."

"No, of course not. Not until you're ready. No one has to know. I know what it's like to be outed before you're ready. I won't put you through that."

"Thanks."

They stayed there for a few minutes, not speaking, before Logan could gather the courage to ask what he wanted to. "Um… Kendall…"

"Yeah, Logie?" Logan's heart skipped a beat.

"About us…"

Kendall turned to Logan, not bothering to hide the gleam of hope in his eyes. "What about us?"

"I-I… well, I- I really like you, Kendall. I mean, if it wasn't already obvious. And I think… maybe… you like me too?"

Kendall smiled involuntarily, even though he was still sniffling. "Yeah."

"Well… what's gonna happen with that?"

"I don't know. I mean… I could understand if you don't want to be with me, I mean, you deserve somebody who's out and proud-"

"Whoa, whoa, back up," Logan interrupted. "Are you saying you wanna be with _me?_ As in, like, a couple?"

"Only if you want to," Kendall practically whispered.

Logan beamed. "Of course I want to! God, it's what I've wanted from the day we first met."

"So you don't… mind, you know, keeping it a… secret."

Logan shook his head and took Kendall's face in his hands. "I couldn't care less," he said sincerely. "I just wanna be with you. Nobody has to know, until you're ready. We'll do whatever you want, Ken. As long as I get to be with you."

Kendall chuckled. "That's so corny."

Logan shrugged. "What can I say, you bring out the corny in me." He leaned forward, and, this time, didn't hesitate before capturing Kendall's lips with his own. This kiss was softer, sweeter than before. It held more. A promise. A victory.

After what seemed like forever, Logan pulled away, just a tad, and rested his forehead against Kendall's, keeping his eyes closed as he savored the memory. "We should get you home, it's getting dark out," he said at last, sitting up straight.

Kendall cleared his throat. "Right. Do I look a mess?"

Kendall's eyes were bloodshot and he was still a little flushed, but to Logan… "You're gorgeous."

"Shut up." Kendall hit him, but smiled anyway as they drove away.

"Sooo, uh…" Logan began as he pulled up outside Kendall's house.

"What now, Logan?" Kendall teased, poking him in the ribs.

"About telling people…"

Kendall's demeanor changed instantly. "What?"

"Well, it's just… you wouldn't mind if I told Camille and Josh, would you? Because they've been bothering me forever about you, and, y'know, trying to help me win you over…"

Kendall laughed out loud for the first time in what felt like ages. "Seriously?"

Logan blushed. "Um. Yeah. I'm not exactly good at being the one doing the chasing…"

"That's too cute."

"Shut up. So, can I? Tell them that we're… together now?"

"Yeah, if you want. Just… as long as they don't tell anyone I might know."

"The only person they know besides me is James, and Camille hates him. Don't worry, you're safe."

"Okay." Without warning, Kendall lunged forward and hugged Logan, nearly squeezing him to death. "Thank you, Logan."

"Uh… no problem," he answered, patting Kendall on the back.

"No, seriously. Thank you." Kendall's voice was dead serious.

"Well, in that case, you're welcome." They looked at each other for a second.

"We, um, still on for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Alrighty, then. I'll… just be going." Kendall got his hockey gear out of the back before getting out of the car and walking to the door.

"Kendall!" he heard Logan call. He turned around and saw Logan leaning out the rolled-down window. He winked and blew a kiss at Kendall. Reflexes took over and Kendall pretended to catch it before he knew what he was doing. Logan laughed and waved before driving off.

Kendall watched him go in a half blissful, half delirious gaze. "See you tomorrow, Logan," he whispered.

**So there you have it.**

**1- When my family drove through Ohio once, there was a rainstorm just like this, where it was raining so hard it felt like hail and you literally could not see a foot away. It was really scary. We had to pull over on the highway and wait it out for about an hour.**

**2- When I first started writing the part with the locker room, it was raining outside. It had stopped by the time I reached this part. Mood appropriate, anyone?**

**Firstly, my sincere apologies for (once again) taking so long to update. I hope this made up for it.**

**Secondly- y'all aren't going to be happy about this, but I probably won't be updating this story until the beginning of September. I'm going to the beach in a few days, then Europe for like two and a half weeks right after that. So I'll have no internet, no computer, and probably won't have the time to write anyway. So sorry :/ But the good news is from here on out, you no longer have to wait- there will be Kogan action in pretty much every chapter (whether you like it or not, suckas.)**


	10. Chapter 10

**OH. MY. GOD. **

**I AM SO SORRY.**

**I really can't express how sorry I am. Really. It's been over two months since I updated, and guys, I feel so guilty. I'm really sorry. It's a shock to me that you even like this story, and frankly, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't stick with me after I took so long to update. I honestly don't even know what was wrong with me. School's started up, and there's lots of work, and… yeah. Excuses, excuses. I'm so incredibly sorry. I don't deserve any one of you.**

**Yeah, by the way. This is where it gets corny. I mean, this story was pretty corny to begin with, but now… It's really quite amazing how once you discover Kogan, basically every song on your ipod reminds you of them, don't you think?**

Logan had had a lot of great days in his life. Some not so great ones, sure, but also some awesome ones- going to Disneyland as a kid, having a perfect beach day with his friends, a perfect Christmas with his family (at least when he was young), getting together with Nate (even if he turned out to be a jackass), meeting Josh, a day at Six Flags, and the list went on.

But he was pretty sure that nothing- _nothing-_ compared to the day he finally got Kendall.

He honest to god could not stop smiling. It just wasn't physically possible. Try as he might to keep the ridiculous grin off his face, it just kept coming back. And really, he didn't mind all too much.

Kelly gave him a suspicious look as he waltzed in the door, actually humming. "What are you up to?"

Logan gave her a look like she was crazy, even though he knew he seemed like the crazy one. "What do you mean?"

She didn't answer, only narrowing her eyes at him before walking into the kitchen to start dinner.

"James, you home?" Logan shouted as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, what took you so long?" James shouted back.

"I gave Kendall a ride!"

James walked out of his room, still in his bathrobe and a hairdryer in hand. "So did you guys finally make up, or what?"

The question threw Logan off enough to wipe the smile off his face. "Huh?"

James rolled his eyes. "Please. I'm not _totally _oblivious. Kendall was acting all weird and ignoring you all week, and you let him. So you guys aren't mad at each other anymore?"

"Uh…" Logan was surprised James paid enough attention to notice something besides his own reflection. "Yeah. I mean, we weren't really fighting, it was just that I did something to sorta… piss him off and it took him a little while to forgive me. No big deal."

James looked at Logan for a second, like he wanted to ask why Kendall got pissed, then shrugged and said, "Okay", before heading back to his room.

Logan practically floated back to his bedroom and tossed his wet hockey crap on the floor before dialing Camille's number into his phone.

She answered on the second ring.

"You're calling early." Her voice sounded accusing.

He grinned. "That I am. I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?"

"No, I'm just hanging with Josh and Sandy and Reese… Why, do you have something to tell me?"

Logan's smile grew- if that was even possible. "Let's just say that I'm now a taken man."

Even though he was expecting it, Logan still flinched when Camille screamed loudly. He held the phone away from his ear until she stopped shrieking with excitement.

"Are you done?"

"Oh my god! I'm so excited! It's Kendall, right? Like it'd be anyone else?"

Suddenly, Logan heard a scuffle, the sound of a smack and a muffled "Hey!" over the phone before he heard Josh's voice in his ear. "I think I can figure out what's going on from Camille, but I still wanna hear you say it."

Logan laughed. "Did you just steal the phone away from her?"

"Yes. And she slapped me. But it'll be worth it if you tell me."

"Yes, Kendall is now my boyfriend."

"Awesome. How'd you achieve it?"

"By luck, and losing patience."

"Hold on, Camille is bothering me. Let me put the phone on speaker."

A moment later, Logan heard two more voices. "Hey Logan."

"Hiya!"

"Hey Sandy, Reese. Has Camille told you what's going on?"

"She mentioned there was a guy you were into, but he was closeted… I guess that sort of changed?"

"About damn time!" Camille shouted.

He chuckled, in such an impossibly good mood it was ridiculous. "Okay, so Reese and Sandy, update- last Saturday, when I was tutoring Kendall, we kissed, but then he sorta freaked out and I left. The past week we haven't really been talking much because he was kind of avoiding me. I felt guilty, so I let him."

"Bo-ring!" interrupted Camille. "Skip to today."

"Jesus, you're pushy. Okay, so this afternoon, it was pouring after hockey practice, and I mean, like, killer rain that will beat your skull in. Kendall was just sort of waiting it out and I felt bad so I offered him a ride. But the rain was so bad I couldn't really drive. So I just pulled over and-"

"Blah-blah, yeah, get to the good stuff."

"Camille!"

"What? I'm an impatient person!"

"Camille, if you wanna hear this story, you need to shut up."

The others laughed. "Fine," Camille grumbled. "But only for you, Logan."

Logan rolled his eyes. "So… yeah, we just ended up talking it out."

"And…"

Logan sighed, feeling slightly guilty about going into details. "Apparently, he's been struggling with his sexuality for a while. He's more attracted to guys, but he had a legit relationship with this girl Jo, so he thinks he might be bisexual. I got him to admit it, but he was still sort of upset."

"Family issues?"

"Good guess, Josh."

"Intuition."

"Anyway, after all that, I sort of admitted I had feelings for him, and he feels the same, and we kissed, and…that's it."

Camille squealed again. "Awww! Logie, I'm so proud of you."

"Does anyone else know?" asked Sandy.

"No, he's not quite ready to talk about it yet. Which reminds me- I know you guys don't know anyone he knows, but would you still mind not going around talking about it a lot yet? Especially on Facebook or Twitter or whatever."

"Of course, Logan. We totally understand."

"Thanks, guys. Listen, I have laundry to do and then we're having dinner, but I'll call you tomorrow, Camille, okay? And I'll talk to you soon, Reese, we've barely spoken."

"Yeah, definitely."

"See you."

"Tell Kendall we're really happy for you guys!"

Logan hung up, and even though he did actually have laundry to do, all he could do was lie on his bed and stare up at the ceiling, every single thought dominated by Kendall.

…..

The next morning, Kendall felt like nothing could bring him down- a huge 180-degree turn from how he had felt the week before.

"You're up early again," said Katie accusingly when she saw Kendall bounding down the stairs.

He shrugged. "Went to bed early last night, got a lot of energy."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She gave Kendall a weird look when he practically skipped into the kitchen, but went back to ignoring him and turned on the TV.

"Morning, Mom," he greeted, ducking into the fridge for some milk.

"Morning, honey," she answered. "How was- HEY! Kendall Knight, what have I told you about drinking from the carton?"

Kendall wiped his mouth and grinned at her sheepishly. "Not to do it."

Mrs. Knight sighed. The perils of having a teenage boy in the household.

"Logan's coming today," Kendall said casually, or at least as casually as he could.

Mrs. Knight gave Kendall a funny look. "I figured he would. He's been coming the past month, hasn't he?"

Kendall just shrugged again. "Thought it'd be polite to remind you."

"Well you are just a little ray of sunshine today, aren't you? I'm glad to see your mood has improved."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been brooding the past week, sweetie. Barely talking to me and snapping at your sister. Did hockey take a turn for the better?"

"Uh…" Damn, Kendall had thought he was good at acting normal. "Yes?"

His mother gave him a look, obviously seeing through his tone, but decided to forget about it. Teenagers will be teenagers. She probably just thought it was his hormones, or something.

Which, in a way, it was. Because if one thing drove his hormones crazy, it was Logan Mitchell.

Kendall gobbled down his breakfast quickly before running upstairs to hastily push all of his shit under his bed, like he did every Saturday. It was amazing how much of a mess he could make within the space of a week.

The second the doorbell rang, Kendall was off his bed and flying down the stairs. His mother beat him to it, but only just barely.

"Hello, Logan," she greeted, opening the door for him to step in.

"Hey, Mrs. Knight." Kendall was at Logan's side in an instant, slightly panting. Logan gave him an amused smile. "Did you just run all the way down here?"

Kendall nodded, and his mother laughed. "I'd watch out for this one, Logan," she said, teasingly nudging Kendall's elbow. "He's in a pretty good mood today, which is always a reason to watch out."

Logan couldn't keep a smug smile off of his face. "Oh really… wonder why he's in such a good mood?"

Kendall's eyes narrowed. "No reason. Hey, you know what'll really bring me down? Some math! Let's go study, Logan."

"Be good, boys," Mrs. Knight called after them as Kendall dragged Logan up the stairs.

"Always are, Mrs. Knight!" Logan called over his shoulder.

As soon as the door to Kendall's room was shut, Kendall had Logan pushed up against it and his lips were on Logan's. Logan's eyes widened from surprise, but let it go and melted into Kendall for the moment.

Kendall knew it was silly, but as he lost himself in the taste of Logan's lips, he couldn't help but feel… well… sparks. More like fireworks, really. He'd never had a feeling this strong with anyone else, and for the life of him, he just couldn't stop kissing Logan.

After a few minutes, Kendall realized he had to breathe eventually, and pulled back with a sigh.

"Not that I'm complaining," Logan's voice sounded slightly strangled. "But what was that for?"

Kendall shrugged, suddenly a tad embarrassed. He scratched at the back of his neck as he stepped back so that he wasn't in Logan's personal space- no matter how much he wanted to be.

Logan chuckled and leaned forward, pecking Kendall on the lips. "Am I just that hot?" he breathed, putting his hands on Kendall's hips to pull him closer.

Kendall laughed and pushed Logan away. "Shut the fuck up, stop pretending you didn't want to do that either."

Logan grinned. "Guilty as charged." He collapsed backwards on Kendall's bed. "Get your ass over here, Knight, we have studying to do."

Kendall groaned loudly, and this time, Logan felt no shame in how much it turned him on. "Come on, Logan," Kendall whined- _whined!_- as he dragged himself to the edge of the bed. "Do we _have _to?"

Logan rolled his eyes, but smiled at Kendall's ridiculously childish tone. "What did you think, you were gonna get away with not doing math just 'cause we're dating now?"

Kendall moaned again and fell backwards onto the bed. "Yes." He leaned his head back to stare at upside-down Logan. "Please, Logan? For your boyfriend?" It felt… strange, but right, hearing the words coming out of his mouth.

"Nice try, Ken. Now get out your books."

Kendall flipped over to his stomach and pouted the way Katie often did with him. "Please, Logie-bear?"

"Did your sister teach you that?" Logan silently cursed Kendall's big green eyes.

"Yes. Is it working?"

"No." Logan nudged Kendall with his foot. But Kendall could tell Logan' resolve was crumbling.

"Pretty, pretty please?" He crawled up the bed to lie next to Logan. "We can make ou-out," he sing-songed.

Logan sighed. "Damn you for being so cute."

"So that's a yes?"

"_Yes. _Fine. Yes. But only this once!"

Kendall wasn't listening. He was too busy jumping up on the bed to pump his fist and shout, "YES!"

"You will resort to any means to get out of math, won't you?"

"Pretty much." Kendall fell backwards again and grinned up at Logan. And Logan felt an overwhelming sense of joyous disbelief as he realized that this beautiful boy was his, all his, and suddenly had the urge to slap himself just to make sure this wasn't all a dream. Because Kendall could not possibly be real.

It was pretty much confirmed when Kendall pulled him down into another searing kiss.

…..

It was around four, going on five, and Logan had no idea where the day had gone. He was currently lying on his back on Kendall's bed, Kendall right by his side. They hadn't left the confines of Kendall's room once, hadn't talked to or texted anyone else, hadn't even turned on the TV or the computer. They had spent the last few hours alternating between making out (which both appreciated greatly), cuddling (which was girly and stupid but Logan found he enjoyed), and just talking. Logan was pretty sure he could've wasted the whole day just listening to Kendall's voice, if Kendall wasn't so damn tempting.

"Do you think that penguins can really be gay?" Kendall asked out of nowhere, disrupting Logan's train of thought, which was probably a good thing, since that train was headed straight towards his dick.

Logan turned to face Kendall. "It's been proven that they can. Lots of zoos have male penguins that've paired up. In New York, two male partners even fertilized and hatched an egg they were given by the zoo."

Kendall didn't bother to ask how Logan knew that; he already knew that Logan's head was filled with random bits of information.

"They're not the only animals, either," continued Logan. "Female lions frequently pair with each other in captivity, and bottlenose dolphins have been documented of engaging in homosexual affairs. Not to mention the many different species of birds. I'm sure there's plenty of animals I don't know about, either."

"You? Not know about something?" Kendall gasped in faux shock.

Logan giggled, leaning over to wrap an arm around Kendall's waist. But his smile turned into a concerned frown. "Why do you ask?"

Kendall shrugged, but answered anyway. "I… don't know. It just… makes me feel a little bit better, I guess. Like there's nothing wrong with me."

"There is nothing wrong with _us,_" Logan answered immediately, surprising Kendall with the intensity of his tone. He nodded slowly.

"I know," he continued. "But… we're not alone. It's not just a weird human thing, homosexuality. Which means it's not really a choice. Which means it's… natural. Which, again, I already knew. It just… gives me proof, you know?" Kendall turned to face Logan, eyes silently begging for forgiveness for his misgivings.

Logan smiled softly. "I understand." He leaned forward to capture Kendall's lips with his own, but they were cut short by a knock on the door.

"Boys?" Mrs. Knight's voice wafted through the wood. "How are you?" Logan automatically moved his arm off of Kendall and scooted over a bit.

"We're fine, Mom," Kendall shouted back a little too loudly, making Logan flinch exaggeratedly. Kendall stuck his tongue out at him.

She poked her auburn head through the door. "Do you guys want a snack?"

Logan sighed heavily and pulled out his phone for the first time the whole day. "I actually can't." He sat up, Kendall following suit. "Kelly wants us home by six for dinner, and I can't refuse since Aunt Brooke's gonna be there."

Mrs. Knight nodded once, immediately understanding. "All right then. But just know, Logan, you're always welcome here for dinner. Anyone who makes Kendall do schoolwork is a great friend of mine." She winked at him and headed downstairs.

Logan waited until she was out of earshot before saying to Kendall, "Too bad we never did any schoolwork today."

"Psht." Kendall waved a hand dismissively. "Don't pretend you didn't enjoy goofing off."

Logan laughed. "I wasn't going to." He leaned in and Kendall suddenly found it a lot harder to breathe. Logan chuckled again, a little bit high on the power he seemed to have over Kendall's body.

He nuzzled Kendall affectionately, giving him a quick kiss on the lips before getting up for his things. Kendall crossed his arms and pouted while Logan collected his bag and books. He hated feeling like the girl in their relationship. Deciding to get some payback, he waited until Logan was facing him again and then lunged forward, pushing Logan back 'til he was sitting on the desk.

Logan swallowed, trying hard to stay in control and not notice how their bodies were flush up against one another, or how Kendall's breath ghosted over his face. Kendall somehow managed to work his way in between Logan's legs, and braced his arms on the desk on either side of Logan, effectively trapping him.

"So," he commented nonchalantly. "I had a really nice time today."

Logan nodded, completely hypnotized. "Yeah. I, uh… I had a good time too."

Kendall smirked devilishly, glad to finally be gaining the upper hand for once. "We should do it again sometime," he whispered, before leaning into kiss Logan gently, eyes closing.

The kiss may have started out gently, but it didn't stay that way. Logan couldn't get enough of Kendall's taste, and all but shoved his tongue into the other's mouth as the kiss picked up heat. Kendall, in response, wrapped his arms around Logan's waist and pulled him closer. Their tongues twirled together, dancing aggressively, fighting for dominance. Logan moaned into Kendall's mouth, and Kendall was on the cusp of winning, he was sure of it, hands running down Logan's thighs and clutching them tightly, pulling him closer.

But somewhere, in the back of his hazy mind, his self-control still existed, and he reluctantly pulled back and reigned himself in, panting slightly. "My mom," he rasped out. Logan, still disheveled, nodded faintly, showing that he understood. But he didn't bother to hide his disappointment.

"Sorry," Kendall murmured, seeing it written all over Logan's face.

"It's all right." Kendall obviously didn't believe him, so Logan took his hand gently. "Really, it is. I get it. And I wouldn't want anyone to walk in on us, even if your family did know about us. It's just… I look forward to a day when we have no one to interrupt."

Kendall nodded, smiling as he pecked Logan's lips. He didn't know what he had done to deserve this wonderful, understanding, beautiful person, but he wasn't planning on letting go. Not any time soon.

…..

Sunday passed with Logan struggling to get through his homework, because when he wasn't daydreaming about Kendall, he was texting him. He eventually had to tell Kendall to leave him alone, which appeared to hurt Kendall's feelings, but he cheered up as soon as Logan told him it was because he was so distracting.

Logan honestly didn't mind being distracted that much, as long as it was Kendall doing it.

…..

Monday was a struggle, to say the least. Logan thought that he would feel relieved, after getting the silent treatment all week, but it was the exact opposite. He was pretty sure he'd never felt so stressed during a school day in his life.

Every ounce of Logan's being just wanted to _touch _Kendall- to kiss him, to hold him, to grab his hand or put an arm around his waist, just to lay a hand on Kendall's arm. He wanted to show the world that Kendall was his, and he wanted to show Kendall how happy he was- but he knew he couldn't. Kendall wasn't ready to come out yet, and James was smart enough to put two and two together if he saw Logan excessively flirting. James wasn't exactly known for his ability to keep secrets.

Chemistry was the worst. Logan didn't personally know anyone in the class besides Kendall, but it seemed like a lot of people knew them. Logan could feel eyes on them the whole period, even though they sat in the very back of the classroom. Then again, maybe he was just paranoid.

Logan felt self-conscious while passing notes with Kendall. He felt like every time he stifled a giggle or blushed slightly, or even looked at Kendall, someone would figure out that he had a crush on Kendall. Of course, he didn't know the chances of that, since his sexuality still wasn't exactly common knowledge. He had never really cared about how he appeared before, having experienced hate before, but with Kendall still coming to terms with himself, it was suddenly imperative that everything be kept on the down low.

But Kendall sure as fuck made it hard.

After Chem, Logan and Kendall dragged their feet as much as they could while walking towards Logan's art class. While on their way, Logan noticed a variety of colorful posters along the walls.

"Homecoming?" He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it a little bit early?" The date on the poster was November 15.

Kendall shrugged. "Football ends before it starts snowing. Haven't you noticed them? They've been up for like two weeks."

Logan looked at him pointedly. "I was kind of distracted by something more important."

Kendall blushed and looked away, then got pissed at himself for acting like a chick again. He directed his anger against the posters again.

"Fucking football. Those jerks get all the attention."

Logan laughed. "You should've seen my old school. Football madness. I never got it, personally. Curse of being a hockey player I guess."

"Know what you mean, bud."

"So are you going?"

"What?"

"To homecoming. Were you planning on going?"

"Why Mr. Mitchell," said Kendall, lowering his voice, "are you trying to ask me to the Homecoming dance?" He sounded dead serious, but his eyes were teasing.

Logan rolled his eyes and pushed Kendall away. "I was just wondering."

Kendall shrugged. "I dunno. I always went if I had a date, but this time…"

Logan got the unspoken question. "We could skip it. Unless you wanna go as 'dateless' with me."

"Whatever you want, Logie-bear."

Logan and Kendall parted at the door of the art room, and Logan slunk into the room dejectedly.

He took his usual seat, and as usual, the others were already though.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, and as per every day, Anthony answered with a fist bump and Goth Girl only nodded in his direction. The only difference was Kitten- she usually gave him a wide smile and a bright hello, but today she only nervously looked at him before mumbling something. She obviously wasn't in a good mood.

"You seem happier than last week," said Goth Girl, making Logan jump slightly. Goth Girl had started speaking a few weeks before, but she still didn't do a lot of it. Her voice always surprised Logan- it was strangely soft and high-pitched, but not in an annoying way. It just didn't fit with her dyed black hair and dark clothes covered in skulls.

"Uh… yeah, I guess I am," Logan answered slowly. She stared at him with unnerving eyes that were an undistinguishable color before dropping her gaze to the table once again. Kitten watched him out of the corner of her eye.

As usual, Kristen flamboyantly talked to the class about their homework before assigning them to draw something new with the colored pastels. She handed out various photos and postcards to use, but said as always, "Draw whatever you draw inspiration from."

Logan, honestly, would've spent all class drawing Kendall, but that would've been more than a little suspicious. Instead, he decided to draw Kitten, since she seemed to be in need of being cheered up. Although he was considerably good at drawing other things, people continued to be Logan's strong suit. Anthony, Goth Girl, and Kitten had all become accustomed to him drawing them. He had even drawn a few other people in the class.

"Hold still," he ordered when Kitten shifted in her seat, and when she saw him watching her she blushed. It made him wonder what was up with her, since she acted like she didn't notice when he drew her- she was the perfect artist's model. He took extra care to make her sweet smile and her layered black hair look good, and used brighter pastels than usual.

Kristen drifted by and gazed down at his page, and he tried not to be uncomfortable with it. She rarely said anything, and when she did, it wasn't just compliments. Kristen may have been a little weird, and more about self-expression than a Disney movie, but she wasn't a raver, and for that Logan was thankful.

He finished just before the bell rang and handed the picture to Kitten wordlessly. Usual he kept them in his sketchbook, but she was in need of it today. Her face grew flushed when she saw it, but she smiled at him across the table.

The second the bell rang, Logan ready to sprint out the door to go see Kendall- even if James and Carlos would be there too. But as soon as he stood, he felt someone touch his arm. He turned and saw Kitten, not looking at him directly. "Um, can I talk to you, Logan?"

He frowned, but answered, "Sure." He followed her out of the art room towards a part of the school he had never really been before, a more private, enclosed place next to a stairwell. There was a locked door that was clearly marked KEEP OUT.

"It's the room with the kiln," explained Kitten, before he could ask. "For the sculpture class."

"You can take sculpture?" Logan whined, even though he didn't really care. "Man, nobody told me about the cool electives. It sucks being new."

She giggled, but the smile faded from her face quickly.

"So, um." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

She turned bright red again and stared at her feet. "I just, I-I. Um, uh…"

Logan smiled encouragingly, feeling bad as she stuttered over every word. Kitten peered over his shoulder, and suddenly asked, "Are you going to homecoming?" Logan glanced behind himself and saw some more obnoxiously bright posters.

"Oh, uh." He turned back to her. "I wasn't really planning on it. I mean, me being a hockey player and all, it must be against some sort of code or something." He chuckled. "Plus, I don't even have a date…"

Too late Logan realized what was going on. He cursed himself inwardly and opened his mouth to backtrack, but it was no use. There was a small, but still present, spark of hope in Kitten's eyes now. He prayed to whatever was out there for a miracle, but she still said the words he dreaded to hear.

"That's kind of, you know, what I wanted to talk to you about. Because, uh, you see, I-I was just… I was wondering, if you, you know… wanted to go to homecoming? You know, with me?"

He swallowed. "Oh."

She met his gaze fearfully, and he knew she could see his answer in his eyes, because she instantly deflated.

"Listen, Kitten," he began gently, but she was already backing away, not looking at him again.

"It's cool." Her voice cracked. "I mean, I was just wondering if you wanted to, it's not like it's a big deal or anything, it's just another stupid dance, right?" She swallowed. "And I'm just another geeky girl."

"Kitten, it's not that, I swear-"

"It's okay, Logan, really. I understand. I gotta go."

"Kitten, wait!" But she was already darting around the corner and into a stairwell. Logan sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling like a world-class jackass.


End file.
